14.6.2010: Beginning of Work Week #3

I've gotten some comments about my blog entries not making sense lately.... Just so you all know, the one entry was called "Random" and was not chronological, just a collection of random thoughts. Hopefully today's post will help clarify some things if anything is still amiss.

So far all that I've been doing as far as work, is restock shelves. But it won't be that way for the entire time, I've already been told that I will be able to work the cash registers! In order to do that, my German has to still improve a bit more, so that the customers will be able to understand me and I will be able to understand them all the time.

Right now it's about 50/50. But there's just so much new vocabulary, that it's going to take me awhile to figure it all out. Every time I am able to help a customer out, I get so excited and proud of myself. Like today, a customer asked for Erdnussbutter (peanut butter), which was on the other side of the store from where I was working today (again in the coolers), and I was able to show her right where it was without any help. Many times I have to tell them to ask my Kollegen (colleagues, co-workers), because I'm just not sure I understand them. But when even my Kollegen can't answer them (i.e. we don't carry the product they're asking for), then I don't feel so bad.

Then there's some words that just sound so different with a German accent, those that are slang, and those that are used in Northern Germany, but not necessarily everywhere.
For example:
Sonnabend: Samstag (Saturday)
---this word got me thinking I was going to have to work the entire week! But alas, my boss wrote Sonnabend, not Sonntag (Sunday).
Pappe: Papier (paper or cardboard)
---not father or dad.
Margarine (in German it kinda sounds like Macarena but with a G sound)
Müll: Abfall (garbage, waste)

This week I will again be working the early morning shift- six in the morning until noon. As some of you may know, I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON. To be somewhere by six, meaning ready and alert, is darn near impossible for me. Some days I can do the ready, other days I can do the alert part.... but today, I did neither. I was almost three hours late to a six hour shift.... Ugh. Not good. At least I learned a new word: ausschlafen. Ich habe ausgeshlafen (I slept in).

But that does bring me to yesterday and what a day it was!

Of course I slept in because it was the only day I was able to. And I surfed the web. And talked to people. It took me a couple of hours to research and verify where I was going, what I was going to see and my routes to get there (in Hamburg).

Well, as you well know, what I plan doesn't always happen the way it was planned. But sometimes, that ends up being a good thing.

I might also want to mention that I did go into Hamburg on Saturday too, and bought my ticket to go see Tarzan on stage at the Theater Neue Flora next Sunday. I can't wait!

This past weekend there was construction on the S21 route- the route I take from Reinbek to get to the Hauptbahnhof- from the Bergedorf stop to the Berliner Tor stop. Saturday I didn't know what was going on, and luckily for me (first that I didn't stay on the same train I was on and go back to where I started), I saw that there was a train coming in about 10 minutes that was going to the Hauptbahnhof (a RE- regional train, instead of the regular SBahn) on another track. When I finally did get to the Hauptbahnhof, I asked what was going on, and how I was supposed to get back.

You know, I did my thing (bought tickets, checked out times and costs for the Haganbeck Tiergarten, walk, walk, look, look, etc), then it was time to go back to Reinbek.... So I take the U2 to Berliner Tor.... And I have no idea where I was. Thankfully they have extra workers around to show you where you're supposed to be going during construction and all that (linie U3 also has major construction going on- but more about that later).

But I didn't figure that out before I walked around the Berliner Tor stop... it was actually kinda creepy. And it was starting to get darker.

Finally I did find help, got on the bus straight to Bergedorf, got on the train from Bergedorf to Reinbek... then I had almost an hour before the next bus (since I was just a few minutes shy of making the previous). So I went to the corner Döner shop. The conversation of course was about the soccer games (the US and England were playing at the time).

One thing that has stuck me as odd is that almost no one has guessed that I'm from the States. They all can tell I have an accent- that German is not my Muttersprache. I've gotten people asking me: Are you from Austria? Are you from a Scandinavian country? England? Australia? Hmm.... I must have a very interesting accent when I speak German.

The end of the story on Saturday includes me drinking my first beer in Germany during this trip- and my first time drinking outside. I also talked with the bus driver who spoke English very well. I was exhausted and went right to bed- at about 10ish.

Okay, now back to Sunday. So I know about the construction on the S21 line. I go straight to the bus stop and have no troubles getting to the Hauptbahnhof and then finding the line (U3) that went to Baumwell so that I could go to the Miniatur Wunderland. It took me over an hour and a half to find it.... Between U3 having construction and having to take U2 the opposite way so I could go back to U3 and taking both lines in the wrong direction and U3 stopping at St Pauli and having to run around in the Schlump stop....

Okay- the point is, construction is difficult to deal with in a town you're not familiar with.

I finally make it the correct stop. I got so caught up with the view that I didn't bother looking at the map I had...

Then I decided that I better look for the museum, or else I wasn't going to able to see it at all.

I was kinda doubtful about it though; I'm not really into model trains or things of that sort.

But I would definitely recommend Miniatur Wunderland to anyone who visits Hamburg!

It was great! Let's just let the pictures do the talking:

The trains. Lots and lots of trains.

This museum was really cool- every few minutes the lights would start to dim, as if the sun was setting, and then come up again.

See, even all the animals in the forest watch the Weltmeistershaft!

Some of my favorite parts were.... well, maybe I shouldn't tell you all- then there wouldn't be any reason for you to go yourself! But really, trust me, this is a must see!

I was there for about two hours- and probably could have spent a little more time, but unfortunately, it was closing time, so I had to leave.

But fear not, it was actually pretty good timing. The museum closed at 8pm, and the big game (Deutschland gegen Australie) started at 8:30, plenty of time for me to get something to eat.

Well, because of the construction, and the fact that it was Sunday and everything is slower (at best), the game was already on when I found a Döner shop. I sat, ate, and watched the game until half time (or whatever the soccer equivalent is) and then went to find Heiligengeistfeld (which isn't too hard, once you actually open your eyes to look for it) for the public viewing. But by time I got there, the crowds were starting to exit the park... Even though I knew the game wasn't over, I decided not to go in, not this time, because I had too much stuff with me (ie, my good camera) and I looked absolutely ridiculous.

I had nothing that was black, red and yellow or anything that said Deutschland on.

That, and I did remember that I had to get up early in the morning.... though I failed to do.

But, because I did watch the game (at least part of it), all was forgiven.

And I apologize if this is confusing in any way... Just let me know and I will try to clarify/reorder things/give more details.

PHONE BOOTH SCAM

DO NOT- I REPEAT DO NOT- EVER USE ANY TYPE OF DEBIT/CREDIT CARD TO MAKE A PHONE CALL FROM A PHONE BOOTH. THEY SCAM YOU OUT OF MONEY AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU FALL FOR THIS- UNLESS YOU ARE SO DESPARATE THAT YOU WILL PAY $40 FOR A ONE MINUTE PHONE CALL.

Pictures from Paris. Day One. Part Three.

Okay, so I have a half an hour to wait for the bus to go into Reinbek, so I might as well work on getting some more pictures up. Enjoy!

I waited about an hour in line to get to the stairs to go up the Notre Dame.

Me. With Paris behind.

The back side of the Notre Dame.

And this wraps up the Notre Dame portion of my pictures. To see more, view my Facebook album "Paris, Day One" at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2767359&id=2260947&l=33542efc21

Now to catch the bus in a few minutes. To Hamburg I go!

Pictures from Paris. Day One. Part Two.

The Notre Dame is on the Ile de la Cite and is gorgeous! It was great to see one of the most historical buildings in Europe.
(Sorry I haven't been doing the correct accents the last couple of entries, it's really tricky to do on my laptop.)

 Lit a candle. Took a picture.

Okay, I'll admit.... I included this picture just to show off how awesome my camera is.

Climbed to the top of the Notre Dame just to see the same views he looks at all the time.

So that's it for this post. I'm heading into Hamburg for the second time. I'll remember to take my camera today so I can get lots of pictures to share! Keep checking back for more Paris pictures (there are so many!).

Tschüss!

10.6.2010: rain, rain- GO AWAY!

So I went into Hamburg again yesterday.

But first I should tell you a little about my first trip to Hamburg.

And mention that I think I love train stations. No, I don't love trains themselves, just the atmosphere in the main station. But that's not the point of this entry. Just a fact, that's all.

So, Sunday I went into Hamburg. And to clarify, I'm not staying in Hamburg- I'm about 17 km (over 10 miles) away from Hamburg in a small town called Reinbek. By bus and train, with transfer time, it takes about 45 to 60 minutes to get to the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof on my own.

It was a gorgeous day for sightseeing and one of the best days as far as weather for Hamburg that I have seen so far. I don't think I can emphasize enough how great the weather was!

Once I got to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station), I walked around just to get myself acquainted with the station here in Hamburg. I figured I might as well look around, and get something to eat. Well, I didn't chose very well and got a grilled sandwich that had been sitting around for awhile. I ended up throwing half of it out.

Say what you may about picking safe McDonalds, but you always know what you're going to get.

Since it was Sunday, all the offices were closed, so I couldn't get a map of the city, or of the different transportation systems. Instead I decided to pick a street and just start walking.

The street I choose was off from Kichenallee, but I'm still not sure of it's name. But remember this street, it comes in again later in my story (I promise to actually look at the street sign next time).

Anyways, went down, saw Kindergarten, found a camera shop I would like to go to, turned around, headed back to Hauptbahnhof.

I decided perhaps I should choose somewhere to actually go. By just looking at the signs for the UBahns and the names of their stops, I choose to go to the Rathaus. Always interesting, and always an important part of the city.

Pretty, pretty. Then the water drew me near. It was gorgeous. I'm not really a water person, but this water looked so inviting... I would have taken a swim.

Basically all I did last Sunday was go for a walk in the Alstar. But it was so beautiful it was well worth it!

Yesterday I headed back to the Rathaus, because this time I actually had my camera. Snap, snap, went to the Gänsemarkt- basically an outdoor mall kind of setting. Walked around, but nothing caught my eye. Went back to the same path that I had walked on Sunday so I could get some pictures... Unfortunately it was already too cloudy to get any decent shots.

Then the rain came. First it was just sprinkling. And then it down-poured. To say the least, I was drenched.

So I went back the way I went last Sunday... But I missed a turn.

I thought, all I need to do is find a UBahn station and get myself back to the Hauptbahnhof. Well, Hamburg isn't covered with UBahn stops. I was walking for quite some time.

It rained.

I walked.

And then all of a sudden, I looked around. I knew I had been there before...

Then I spotted the Kindergarten. It was the street I had first walked on last Sunday!

Since I knew where I was, and knew it wouldn't take me long to get back to the station, I went to the Döner shop across the street to eat. Yum! Yum!

By the time I was done eating, got to the Hauptbahnhof, and waited for the correct train, the rain had stopped on the way home.

Now I think my camera is cursed. When I bring it, it rains; otherwise the weather is beautiful.

Pictures from Paris. Day One. Part One.

View from my hostel window on the top floor. The stairs were a pain to carry my stuff up, but the view was definitely worth it!

My first view of the Eiffel Tower.... to say the least, it did take me a little while to figure out that it was right in front of my face. Of course, I just really like this picture for some reason. Very artistic.

Lion statue in the Jardin du Luxembourg. The Jardin dL was one of the first places I went to in Paris. It was gorgeous!

The Pantheon. And sun rays. It was an awesome day as far as weather to go sight-seeing... Except that I didn't put on any sun-screen. Oops!

The Bibletheque de Saint-Geneve. One of the buildings I studied in an art history class a couple of semesters ago.

This doesn't wrap up day one yet, but I thought I'd try to post a few at a time.... The photo uploader on Blogger seems to want to post my pictures in reverse order, so it takes a bit of time to organize them. Once they're uploaded of course.

Also, I'm going to be a good little girl and go to bed early tonight. This week I'm working the early shift at Edeka- six am til noon. And as some of you may know- I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON! So that's right, I'm going to bed at quarter past ten (crazy early for me). Hope this works!

8.6.2010: Random

Okay, if I don't write now, I'm just not going to get everything down that I want to.... So this entry is going to be random, and whatever observations come to mind first, that's what will be written... Here we go!

Wednesday: Wine with Herr H (not Shütte, like previously stated.... Can't remember his name now, because he's been on vacation since).

Last couple of hours of Wednesday, all of Thursday, Friday and part of Saturday: Obst und Gemüse mit Frau Wülf (I think I have her name spelled correctly)- fruits and vegetables with Frau Wülf.

Saturday: this and that with Frau Schmädt.... okay, I don't think I have that spelled correctly.... Gees, I should be able to get these all right, they have their names sewn on their uniforms.

Basically most of what I've been doing is restocking the shelves in different parts of the store... restocking wine, restocking fruits and vegetables, restocking cheese, restocking yogurt.

The Germans sure do love their yogurt and quark. There's probably ten or more times worth of this stuff in this Edeka, then in an American grocery store- and it's not as big as say Meijer or Kroger's.

Though the work itself has been monotonous, the people are great and experience I've been getting with the German language can't be beat. Most of the people tell me they can't speak English well, and I tell them that's okay because I'm here to practice German anyhow.

I have to say, the worst part about this position has been break time.... Everyone smokes. Everyone but me. So, having to go into the break room has become dreadful for me (and sometimes just into the back), because they all smoke back there.... No one smokes outside.... So I think from now on I'm going to have to be the one to take my breaks out there.

America is the land of the fat and Europe has all the smokers. I've definitely noticed that on this trip.

As for breaks, I've learned to just make myself some hot cocoa right off the bat, or people will keep asking me.... If I gain weight (which I've actually been losing, 3 kilos [about 6.6 lbs in two weeks] since coming to Europe- yay me!), it will be because of all the hot cocoa.

Many myths have been proven wrong- like all of Europe speaks English. Most of Europe studies English in school, but not all of them continue with it after that. (But most that tourist encounter do, since it's probably in their job description.)

The weather has been so so here... We'll have a couple of great, gorgeous days, followed by lots of rain.... today is one of the rainy days.

Germany has a bottle return system like Michigan (and a few other states) does.... When a bottle has a Pfand, you have to pay an extra 15 euro cents each, but return them to get it back. Many water bottles have a Pfand too.

The computer system they use for Edeka is similar to the one we had used at the scrapbook store.... I watched a couple people put new items in- there's just more details to worry about. (I don't suspect that the computer inventory systems would vary too much from store to store, but this one is definitely more organized when it comes to reordering and things like that!)

Okay, I think this is enough for right now. Laters!

6.6.2010: It's still surreal to me....

the blog originally titled: First impressions
then it was titled: Wein schmeckt gut (Wine tastes good).
then it was titled: Wash your fresh fruits and vegetables.
then it was titled: Ich komme aus Amerika (I come from America).
then it was titled: Willkommen in Hamburg (Welcome to Hamburg).


Since I waited so long to finally get around to writing and posting this blog, this post has went through many name changes.... a lot has happened and I will try to fill you guys in on all the happenings here in Reinbek (which is about 20 kilometers outside of Hamburg, hour by bus and train).

Monday I arrived in Hamburg (this is where my last blog entry left off) to the Hauptbahnhof. I knew all I had to do was look for my name. I didn't know who was picking me up (well, I knew it was my boss for the summer, but since I had never met these people [him and his wife ended up picking me up], I didn't know what they looked like). And I finally got my airport/train station greeting. You always see the people in the airports and train stations with the signs of names. Well, my name was finally amongst them.

Okay, okay, I know, get on with the story now (I was just kinda happy with the whole sign thing). I met up with Herr Kratzmann (the elder), held out my hand for a nice firm handshake (I hope), and said, "Hallo. Ich bin Corey Burbank." We talked a bit, but I was so tired from being on the train for eight out of the last ten hours, that I probably butchered everything that I tried to say.

I think, personally, that I make really bad first impressions. Thinking back to when I started my last job (at the scrapbook store), I probably seemed like an idiot, just like I did last Monday. I wore jeans on that first Tuesday at the scrapbook store, when I should have worn nice dress pants. I walked around and really didn't do much.... I'm sure Andy and Emily were probably wondering why they hired me. Maybe it's just my impression of myself. I think I do okay in interviews, but the first couple of days on the job I am a flop. (Luckily [I think it was Michelle] was there too, so customers were actually helped that evening.)

It felt like the same thing here. Except that I wasn't expecting to go into the store at all last Monday.... I was hoping that I would just go to the room that I would be staying in and be able to get set up.... But nope, Herr Kratzmann took me to the store (one of the two that his son runs) where I was to be working for the next three months.

Herr Kratzmann showed me around the store. Here's the bakery, here's the fresh fruits and vegetables, here's this, here's that. Meet Frau so-and-so, meet Herr what's his name (almost none of the names stuck.... okay, honestly, none of the names stuck). We talked about when I was going to work (2-8pm Tuesday through Saturday, 6am to noon starting next Monday), what I have to wear (comes to find out I could have brought more jeans.... figures.... I brought about ten pairs of nice slacks with me), and when I'll get paid (150 Euros every Saturday).

Then we came to the house in which I have a room in for the next three months. It's a pretty nice room. I'll have to take a few pictures of it once I get around to it.... (Okay, so I've been kinda lazy in the blogging and picture taking arena.) My host mother wasn't home at the time, she was off to the opera (which I missed since I didn't get out of Paris on time), so Herr and Frau Kratzmann showed me where everything was and gave me the money for the room (in addition to getting 600 Euros a month, Herr Kratzmann is also paying the 250 Euros a month for my room.... I really got lucky, didn't I?).

Herr Kratzmann also gave the suggestion to go back to the store and buy some food for that night and the morning.... Grocery stores here in Germany do not stay open 24 hours a day like we're used to in the States. Most everything around where I'm staying closes at 8pm (and nothing is open on Sundays, but we'll get to that later).

I went, bought some apples, bananas, tortellini (mit Fleisch, natürlich), spaghetti noodles, tomato sauce, yogurt, cereal, and milk (I think that's all for that trip). When I went to check out, I learned about the scanner.... I don't know if there's any in America (at least I haven't seen any), but the customer actually weighs and prices how much of the fruit and vegetables they buy fresh. There's like a little scanner that pops out price tags. Anyways... It was interesting....
Well, I can tell this is going to be a really long post... I haven't even gotten to the work part of things.

By time I went to bed last Monday, I had already unpacked and put everything in its place. My host mother came home and we talked about where different things are, and little things that Germans do differently.

Since I didn't have to go to work until 2pm, I had an easy morning.... The hardest thing was deciding when I was going to head to work. I knew I had to be early (since that's the way German's are), but I was worrying about how soon was too soon. My walk to work was only to be five minutes (it was take even less time then that, but the cross walk signals take so darn long... it might even take more than five minutes at certain times of the day), and I knew I wanted to be at least 15-20 minutes early on my first day. So I left at 1:30. Admittedly, this is earlier then I think I have ever left for work.... I never go so early.... Crazy. But it was a good thing. Now I don't leave until twenty-to or quarter-to... but that's because I don't want to be stuck in the break room for too long (more on that later).

Being my first day on the job, of course there was to be logistics to figure out.... But surprisingly, no paperwork. That was all taken care of by the nice folks at the International Cooperative Education Program office (and that's what my pricey program fee went to pay for). So I just had to get my uniform (for now, just a black polo shirt with Edeka on the front and advertisements on the back) and set up my account with the figure print door opener thingy....

Okay, so I have no idea what it would be called. To open the back doors (when the store isn't open of course), I don't need a key, instead I will just put my finger on the finger pad and it will read my finger print.... But the computer didn't know my finger print, and figuring out the computer program took the office people awhile to do. After that was all said and done, I was told to wait in the break room until the gals went out to restock the shelves.

So that's what I did on Tuesday. I helped restock the shelves.

Then Herr Kratzmann returned, and he told me I could call home from his office. Unfortunately, we couldn't figure out what numbers we needed before the actual number.... I'm still not sure. But instead, I came back to my room and called my parents via Skype (which is a lot simpler, and probably a lot cheaper since I'm paying the US to US prices- which is only about 2.1 cents per minute.... you can't really beat that). I talked to my mom for about an hour, then later that night I talked to dad and Casey via Skype video chat.

Ooh, oh, yeah, I forgot to mention.... Herr Kratzmann let me out early since it was my first day. I got out around five-ish, when I was supposed to work until eight.

Wednesday it was back to the grind... well, a different type of grind.

I helped Herr Schüttle stock the wine shelves.

There are a lot of different wines. I really don't know much about wines. But I now know that "trocken" means dry.


Okay, maybe this is going to take a few entries to get through everything. There's so much to tell! Laters! (aka. my hands are getting tired of typing.)

Pictures from Köln

ARE FINALLY HERE.

Pigeon. Hauptbahnhof. Höhenstraße. Kölner Dom X 3.

Pictures from Frankfurt

Top: the Goethe house (house in which Goethe was born). See, I did see something historical while in Frankfurt.

Middle: me in front of the Alte Oper.

Bottom: the hostel in which I stayed at while in Frankfurt. aka: where I slept for two days.