the apartment

hopefully this weekend i will be able to take and upload some photos of my new apartment. it is quite large for a european apartment, and i like space, so that is good. i am renting stefan's apartment (a guy i met on exberliner.com - a site that finds furnished apts for people). i knew stefan was a writer and had gotten a scholarship to write in WI for a few months, so he was putting his place up ot earn some extra income. what i did not know is that not only does stefan write for one of the most famous soap operas in berlin (Verliebt in Berlin), he is also a porn writer. i know this because there is a certificate on his wall from "cum2cut" awarding him for best "deep dive superhero." i dont even want to know. what i do want to know is whether or not he has put video cameras up in his apartment. i was always afraid of that in my apartment in paris - my landlord, frank, who was really hot, btw, seemed to be the sort of person who would rent apartments just to spy on his tenants. i'm hoping stefan is not looking to get some ideas for his writing from me....

so yeah... the apartment smells. at first, i thought it was the smell of "man." and my friend anny was like, "is that a good thing?" and i pointed out "not if there isn't one here!" then bobby asked if there were a lot of plants around (which there ARE) and he said the smell could be from them... ??? finally, my friend jen, who came over tonight, thinks it just smells musty. either way, candles are the first thing i will buy tomorrow - splurge on, in fact.

it's not a horrible smell and once you're here a while, you can't smell it, but i am rather particular that way...

it's "clean" in the sense that i have been to friends' places that are "clean" like this, but compared to what i like, it's not quite clean enough. thats fine, i'll spend a lot of time cleaning and then be perfectly at home.

stefan left all sort of post-its around the apartment telling me how often to water his plants. i didnt want to tell him that i have NO IDEA how to care for living things other than myself (which is doubtfull that i do that even), so i asked him to tell me how often to do it. they're all different! one is "whenever the 'earth' is dry" and a few are 2x/month and some are 1x/week. this could get complicated. i'll feel really bad if i kill one.

i was going to describe how the toilets flush funny or i had to hacksaw my charger, and how i dontknow how to make the bed, but its midnight and i am really tired. or feel like i should be tired, so i am going to head to bed... if i can figure out how to make it...

as an fyi - berlin is 6 hours ahead of the east coast.

landing: part 2 (berlin)

well i am writing to you from the great city of berlin. and yes, this is a great city. i shall make a list of great cities one day, and berlin will be on it. so, since i am in berlin, i guess i can say that i made it safely and it was mostly without event:

after i wrote on my laptop at schipol in amsterdam, i set my alarm for one hour to nap on the reclining chairs. well, for some reason, i did not hear my alarm and JUST HAPPENED to wake up right before my plane boarded. i still do not know what it was that woke me, but when i awoke, i was in the phase where my body had almost completely shut down in hibernation and if i didnt wake up then, i would not have woken up at all. so then while i was waiting to board the plane, my heart was pounding something fierce - the "almost missed my flight" pound. anyway, slept the whole way to berlin and got off without incident, found my luggage, tried to go through a non-exit door (despite the english sign stating "do not exit"), found a cab and hopped in for the drive to pick up the keys to my apartment.

met the guy, kaspar, who brought my to my furnished, rented apartment in the mitte district, just blocks from the goethe institut (where i will be taking german classes). so alles gut...

landing: part 1 (amsterdam)

ahhh funny dutch men and their funny pants. if i were really computer-savvy, i would take a picture of their straight-legged with knee pockets and do some quick tapping on the keyboard and load the picture. alas, i am not that savvy.

anyway, arrived safe and sound. am at schipol airport in amsterdam. i was thinking of buying some internet time to use for the next few hours during my layover, but its 12 eur for 90 min - thats at least $18!! plus then i have to pay an additional 3% for using a credit card overseas. i think i will begin frugal living while right now.

apparently liquids are not allowed in the EU anymore. after being forced to give up my unused expensive bottle of water and a stolen mini-bottle of wine from the plane, i remembered reading an article about how that was the case. only my two nips made it through customs. and now i wait. 3 hours left.

......

ok, much more comfortable. i found one of the recliner sections right near my gate, so i am sitting here relaxing. i hope i dont fall asleep. i'll have to figure out a way to keep typing for the next 2 hours.

i'm starting to feel that 'just took a red eye' sticky feeling when your body realizes that it went to bed and therefore should have a shower.

some dutch klm woman is yelling at a customer. except, i'm sure it's not considered yelling here - she doesn't seem to be overly upset, but has raised her voice and pointed a lot. ahhh, life in europe. the customer is rarely right.

......

ok, this frugal living thing is already starting to bug me. it's not even been an hour! i'm really hungry but don't want to eat just yet.

one thing i don't like about europe is the fact that the writing on book bindings is not consistent. it doesn't always face a certain way. e.g. in the US, EVERY book's title is written essentially from top to bottom of the book so that when the book is standing upright, you would turn your head to the right to read the title. this way, when you lay the book down on its back, the title on the side is upright and the front of the cover is on the top. i have found no consistencies here - they print the names either way. i'll have to go into a bookshop and see how they organize it all.

alas, i am really tired and these chairs are made so that you sit just right to take a nap. i shall set my alarm for one hour.... oh crap. i hope i dont disturb anyone else with an alarm. what is the etiquette for sitting in reclining chairs at an airport in the middle of the day? and whatever that etiquette is - does it apply to me? i can sleep anywhere so i NEED an alarm or else i might not wake up....

leaving fargo

splendid beginning to my trip.
no one sat next to me on my trip from fargo to minneapolis. then, despite having to hustle across the WHOLE minneapolis airport (which is quite big - literally going from one corner to the complete opposite corner), i arrived at my gate with enough time to buy a pillow and get some dinner. there is a new resto in the msp airport that serves pad thai which i LOVE and so i had to order some just so that they have business and are still around next time i am traveling through.

anyway, the best part of the trip so far is the fact that no one is sitting next to me! i'm not sure when this will get posted, but i am typing while in the air on my way to amsterdam - a nearly 8.5 hour red eye flight and no one next to me! brilliant! i should've realized because when i checked in, there was an empty seat next to me and one of those nice $50 signs on it. guess no one wanted to pay to sit next to me! i'm ok with that.

this plane is new and fabulous - very clean and on demand tvs for everyone. i plan on taking my sleeping pill soon. we are currently at 33,000 feet, on our way to 37,000 and eventually 39,000 feet. the pilot just announced that we will get to amsterdam 1/2 hr early. i think schipol is the great airport where they have a bunch of recliners for you to sit on and relax. i can take a nap!

well... it appears i spoke too soon. the trip is ruined! they do not have the movie i wanted to watch. :( not really ruined, but putting a damper on my trip. i love this on demand movie thing, but it's too bad that i feel i have to sleep - i am reconsidering my decision and thinking i could stay up all night and watch FOUR movies! guess i'll settle for rewatching sex and the city.

i've been a bad, bad girl

so i just found out that in my quest to clean, organize, update and streamline my parent's house, i have thrown out two very important (although dated) books of my father's. i would like to make a heartfelt apology and also tell everyone how great my dad is. he's a really cool guy and you all should get to know him. just don't throw out any yellowed books about printing first made in the 1980s. sorry, dad

also, i would like to clarify that in my poll "hand out razors" is meant for the women who apparently are liberal with their lack of shaving - NOT to entice anyone to hurt herself.

oh yes, and one more thing - if i mention you by name and you prefer to be anonymous or have a secret identity, let me know and i'll change it.

t minus ... 3 hours!!!

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

ok, so i am leaving in a little over three hours - 650pm in Fargo. starting to get a bit hyped, but not too much. there is so much that could go wrong - i could get bumped from my flights, they could get canceled, they could CRASH, i might not meet the guy for the keys to my apartment - oh crap! what if i accidentally bought tickets to berlin, texas or something?? that would SUCK. i think i'm going to the right place, though.

i'm mostly packed - i just have to shower and put my shampoo and conditioner in my bags (which are already overpacked, but hair care is very important, so i will use my superhuman strength to fit them in). i also have to pack my carry on bags which is proving to be a big dilemma for me - i can't decide which bags to bring... and i have to pack up this laptop. my ipod is all charged as is this computer [just double checked - 100%, baby]. i was going to try and not bring an address book, but thats not happening. oh crap. where are my headphones? oh, there they are. i've called all my cc's to tell them i will be overseas (btw - visa and mastercard charge 3% transaction fee, but amex charges 2%! guess we know which card i'll be using; all the famous people use it, so it must be cool). hmmm.... what else? can you think of something i need to pack? i think i have my wallet... and my passport - check. c'est tres important - thats very important. i have two nips for the plane ride AND my sleeping pills... oh, i also incredibly found my french cell phone from back in the day. if i get it to work, i'll let ya'll know so ya'll can call me... oh, speaking of which - make sure you sign up for skype!

ok, now i'm not excited anymore. my friend deepti called earlier today and was like, "are you excited?" and i said, "sure, i guess." and then she pointed out, "well, i guess you've done this trip a few times before." so... maybe thats why i'm not more amped...

ok, i'm off to shower and then power down. wish me luck. or you could just say "merde" to me - i watched a dance movie today and everyone said that to each other. oh! and remind me to tell you about when new york went to hollywood... such a train wreck!

the anniversary dinner

today (sept 1) is my parent's anniversary. to celebrate, my oldest younger brother came over for dinner. [the youngest younger brother is away at college.] i got the gift earlier in the day and i texted my brother, homie, asking him to pick up an anniversary card. when he got here, we came upstairs to my room to sign the card and i wrote "happy 28th anniversary! jk. [heart] danielle." my brother asks me, "what's the joke?" referrring to my inscription. i said, "you know, because i'm 28" implying that i am a bastard child. my brother looks at my quizzically and i say, as i realize, "i'm 27!" so, the joke started and ended with me. it just flopped and the really cute card he picked out was ruined.

so we give the gift and card to them (which no one got without an explanation) and start playing cards while we wait for dinner to be ready. [i am just now realizing that neither my brother nor i cooked for our parents - probably averted many a kitchen disaster!] we played whist, which, for those of you who don't know is a partner game. there are 2 teams of 2 people - so only 4 people can play. all of the cards in the deck are dealt so each person has 13 cards. each person looks at his / her cards and determines if the hand is "good" (a lot of high cards) or "bad" (low cards). depending upon your cards, you say if you want to play high or low. if any one person wants to play high, then the next round is played high - meaning that you want to have the highest card played so you can take the "trick." this is a very very simple explanation of the game. for this reading, all you need to know is that my brother and i were on a team and we lost

EVERY

ROUND

to our parents. it was quite embarrasing. they just had really really good hands.

so, at one point, they were both in the kitchen finishing dinner and my brother and i showed each other our hands. [i must take a second to explain that i RARELY cheat - i'm just not competitive enough to care to always win; but today was just ... horribly embarrasing. we arent THAT bad at whist.]

anyway, we discover that i had the ace, queen and a few other cards of diamonds and my brother had the king, jack and a few other diamonds. right there, that meant we could make at least 4 points if we were playing a "high" game [and you only need to get 7 points to win the round]. so, we decided that one of us should "grand" or opt to play a "high" game. well, we didn't have to grand because my father did (which means that he thought he had a pretty good hand). we weren't worried because we knew we could get at least 4 points between the two of us and we thought we could upset their goal of making a lot of points. so we play. it worked PERFECTLY - we got the four tricks of diamonds and then... down hill from there. i can't remember exactly what happened - it doesnt even matter - BUT we were smoked. they took every other point. not good.

we ended up losing that hand and enough of the other hands to lose to my parents 3-0. or, 0-3, i guess, since i have to say my score first. disgraceful.

the next hand, my brother laughs and i look at him and he says "we lost even when we cheated" and shook his head. my parents didn't hear, but it was really sad.

the bachelorette party

tonight was a night of firsts. the first time i have ever walked four blocks in darkness. yes, it was fargo, and no i guess i wasn't scared, but no i would not ever do it again. oddly, it was also one of my first bachelorette parties. yes, i am entering the season when my friends begin to get married. it was also one of the best dinners i have ever had with my brother. yes, i made him wait [much too long in his opinion] before we could leave, but overall the night was fun.

i love to death my friend gidget. and i met two of her friends tonight who i think i could adore. and i feel badly. the bachelorette party tonight was not one that i would like to have. it was not rucous and wild and crazy; nor was it embarrassing or exciting for the bride-to-be. it was 10 women (although i still think of myself as a girl) in the basement of the swankiest hotel in fargo (the ho do), downing martinis, munching on hors d'oeuvres, and sharing silly stories of gidge. it was not at all a bad evening, but comparatively speaking... bachelorette parties, in my opinion, are supposed to be outrageous and unforgettable and.... the opposite of what tonight was. tonight was more of a shower. yes, it was a bridal shower, in the evening. i hope gidge had a good time. i wish we could've gotten her blitzed to the point of having so much fun, she wouldn't want anyone to see the pictures. and don't you hate it when, no matter how much you drink (a pitcher of margaritas and THREE french martinis) you feel completely sober and are annoyed with how much you've spent and aren't appreciating the effects. [although i cant REALLY complain.... a mexican dinner for two with appetizer, 3 meals and two pitchers of margaritas was less than $50 and then 3 martinis and a margarita was $32.... ahhh, life in the midwest: cheap drinks.] after a few hours, i had gidge's friends (and my new friends!) drop me off at the corner so i could walk 4 blocks home. in the dark. which i would NEVER do. but it was fine.

so, two lessons from tonight: one, i hope gidge had a GREAT time. and if you didn't, i promise to throw you a crazy party in DC. two, if i were to ever get married (doubtful), no matter how much i say i don't want an embarrassing bachelorette party - don't listen to me. it has to be wild. wouldn't you agree that bachelor/ette parties are supposed to be unforgettable???

ahh, life in the midwest

in my sophomore year of college, after i pointed out yet another difference between boston and fargo, a friend of mine said lovingly to me, "danielle, if we were in europe, you'd be from a different country." and he's right. things are a little different out here. so, i've just decided i'm going to start a running entry entitled "ahh, life in the midwest" devoted to promoting the differences between fargo and anywhere else i've lived.

today: i always say everyone should have his or her own passport in case you need to flee the country at a momen'ts notice (and be sure to know which countries don't have extradition policies with the US). if this is a potential threat for you, living in the midwest might be a hassle because you cannot walk into a bank and ask for foreign currency on the spot. you'll have to plan your transgressions around the foreign currency ordering schedule at your local bank.

...or keep lots of currency in your safety deposit box.

ahh, life in the midwest.

the exchange rate. sniff, sniff

i'm watching a show on HGTV and this woman is looking for a house to buy in amsterdam for 215,000 EUR or "equivalent to $260,000." wtf??? when was this show made??? i went to the bank today to prepare for my trip to europe (which, btw, is NEXT WEEK!!) and bought 200 euros for $309!! [side note: you have to PRE-order euros in fargo. you can't just walk in and get a lot. they might have SOME, but not many. forget about getting anything other than GBP or EUR. ahhh, life in the midwest.]

260,000 / 215,000 = 1.209
309 / 200 = 1.545

sniff. sniff, sniff.