Pajama Party

January 26, 2007

COE tried to throw another party. Let me give you the history of parties at COE. We started off with a bang with the halloween party followed by Anna' name day, bad taste party, Party in every kitchen on each floor, and finally pajama party! You are guaranteed to get really drunk by the end of the night when you attend a party in COE! Personally, I don't think the parties would be as fun if you didn't drink something.

A party in every kitchen on every floor wasn't one of my favorites, but naturally I found entertainment along with some of my possie. Every kitchen had different music playing including Indie, Electronic, Pop/Rock, and Spanish. Naturally I made it to the electronic themed kitchen; joining me included Lieselotte, Angela, and Shawn. I am sure we were very amusing to watch for we made up dance moves to this fast pace music including the lawn mower, guy in Vienna, and baseball!

The pajama party was...interesting. It was a major concern at first about what people were going to wear for it seems like majority sleep naked. However, with a little searching the guys and girls found some pajama wear in their wardrobe. I wore the classic poker pajama pants with a nicely matching shirt. However, I was surprised to see how many guys wore their underwear! It wasn't even boxers; in fact, the attire closely resembled whitie tities! A lot of the girls found entertainment taking pictures of these brave boys dancing around in the party room.

Please keep my oma in your thoughts and prayers. She recently went through heart surgery and is in the process of recovering.

January 24

Today was the first snowfall in Bamberg for me! It was very exciting to see, but at the same time annoying especially since I just returned from a skiing trip where there was no snow. It continued to snow from the previous night all the way till about 8p.m. Bamberg now has about 2 feet of snow, which is not good for me because the only boots I have are high heels.

Katie and I thought it was a good idea to build a snowman and remove ourselves from this stressful environment from studying for finals. Enriqa, Paola, Davita, and his roomie came to help us, however the snow was wet enough to actually form a snowball; instead we had a snow/dust fight. It was fun until I got snow down my jacket. I love snow!

Bad Toelz

January 19-21

This weekend, I went on an erasmus excursion with some of the other exchange students to Bad Toelz. The point of the trip was to go snow skiing, but since there was no snow I ended up not! Actually Friday we couldn't do much in Bad Toelz, because the town felt the hurricane weather was too dangerous to open its stores/businesses. In reality, the weather was not awful, but at times the gust of wind was overbearing.

Friday night we ended up walking around Bad Toelz, which took about 30 minutes, and then we began drinking the wine we purchased there while playing rummie. I must say it was very entertaining to watch Shawn and Angela trying to open the wine bottles! Later in the evening, most of the erasmus students managed to find a spot in Katie, Anna, and Aneta's room to stand or sit; so I hung out there the rest of the night.

Saturday was more eventful. The main group was going to Neuschwanstein, but since I have already seen that with Aneta, we went to Augsburg and Muenchen. Augsburg is known for being one of the oldest towns in Germany; it is said to have been established before the time of Christ. The buildings were of course beautiful. One thing I found interesting in Augsburg was there claim for being the hometown of Mozart. I know! I thought Salzburg was...at least that is what I was told before. Maybe there is more than one famous Mozart?!? After walking around Augsburg, Aneta and I made our way to Muenchen where we enjoyed a warm cup of good old Starbucks!! We didn't stay long in Muenchen for both us have previously been for Oktoberfest, and myself for New Year's. Later that night we celebrated Jenny's, from England, birthday. Everyone drank in our room because supposedly we had the PENTHOUSE.

***Shawn, Molly, and I shared a four person room so it was bigger than the other students' rooms. The penthouse consisted of a king size bed, one twin bed, and another bed consisting of two mattresses on top of eachother. Our room also had two old fashion chairs with a table perfect for rummie playing. The penthouse was equipped with a balcony as well as a huge bathroom. It was pretty sweet!

After partying in the penthouse, we attempted to go to a karakoe bar that we discovered in Bad Toelz. We were not there that long, for the music was terrible and everyone was ready for their ZZZZZZ's.

On Sunday, the group was given the choice of either snow skiing with only 10% of the hills open or visit Muenchen. Since I didn't want to waste my money on skiing on fake snow with patches of grass, I decided to go with Molly to Muenchen where we then continued to come straight back to Bamberg. Overall the trip was fun...but not the typical skiing trip if you know what I mean!

Bad Toelz Album

OMG

January 18-19
Who would have ever think that a hurricane would hit Germany? Definitely not me but as shocking as it seems Bamberg received warnings on possible hurricane hittings. I believe they even named the hurricane! Nothing too terrible in Bamberg happened, but we did have strong winds; buses and trains were not operating Thursday, and work was cancelled for some fortunate people on Friday.

Belgium

Jan 2-6, 2007
Shawn and I were very fortunate that Lieselotte and her family opened their home to us. Her family not only let us sleep there but also cooked for us! I experienced the true Belgium lifestyle. Lieselotte resides in a town called Gent, which was beautiful. We spent two days touring Gent, and of course tried some of the beer. I never saw so much beer in my life! They had everything from light to dark and peach to chocolate.

Hearing so much about Brugge, we had to visit. Brugge is a beautiful town with picturesque scenery, but I personally liked Gent better. In Gent we visited a castle, where they showed many torture weapons. We also saw some churches and cathedrals. We also visited the capital of Belgium, Brussels. I liked Brussels very much. There were gorgeous buildings including the palaces of the present king and princes of Belgium. My favorite building was the justice building, but unfortunately much construction was being done to it. In Belgium, there were so many cathedrals and churches, so we definitely had our fair share of seeing them. You won't believe what I saw...the MADONNA by Michelangelo!
Not wanting to constantly intrude upon Lieselotte's family, we intruded her sister's house. There we played the new game unit called Wi! It was fun and very entertaining!
If you ever get the opportunity to visit Belgium, you must try the pommes, chocolate, and beer...it's fabulous!
The most peculiar thing for me in Belgium where the staircases. They were so dangerous! They reminded me of the staircases that you would see in ancient times in castles, but they were marble. Basically they were small spiral staircases with no railing on either side leading up to the upstairs. I was very surprised to see this in homes, but Lieselotte has confirmed that there has never been a falling!
Oh I almost forgot! I was once again very smart while traveling and did not bring an extra pair of contacts. Of course one had to rip so I was left to wearing my glasses the entire time, which doesn't have my updated prescription. Also, it rained everyday but one in Belgium, so my hair looked terrible...beware of pictures! I have learned though that the weather prediction for Belgium is always rain!
Thank you so much Lieselotte and family! I had an amazing time!! I hope to some day return to Belgium. Who knows, rumor has it that Stephen, a friend of my brother, is there. I might just have to drop by!

New Year's

My plan for Christmas break altered immensely. I was suppose to go to my aunt's until Wednesday, where I would then meet Katie, from Clemson, and her family in Amsterdam. I would be in Amsterdam until Saturday, where I would then take a train to Koeln. The next day I was going to take a bus with my friend Shawn to Paris to spend two days there and then go back to Koeln. From January 2-6 Shawn and I would visit Lieselotte in Belgium. The plan sounded great until I realized: it was difficult bringing this huge red suitcase around on the trains, I left my phone charger behind and my phone was dead, I left my alarm clock on again (my neighbors probably hate me), and the only trains I could find to Amsterdam left late one day and came back early the other. I am not going to lie; I was also waiting for a package that has my new camera in it! Anyways, I decided to spend an extra day with my aunt and cancel the Amsterdam trip. I arrived back in Bamberg Thursday afternoon, when Shawn tells me that he is also coming back. We realize that our trip to Paris isn't official yet, so we can still back out, so we decide not to go because of the short time period in Paris. Now we were in Bamberg with no one here.
That Saturday, December 30, Shawn and I discovered a theatre in Nuerenberg that plays international movies. Basically it plays the movie in which language it was produced. So we went to theatre to watch Deja Vu, which was good but the theatre was very...unique. First of all, it was in a alienated town outside of the city. It was the only building that was lit up during this evening. As we walked into the theatre we were guided by a flashlight, even though the theatre was pretty well lit up. Now for how the theatre looked: It had a very old theatre look with a stage a red curtains, that would close before the movie began. There was a Christmas tree lit up and garland hanging everywhere; yes, the lights all dimmed when the movie began. Finally, the theatre had hooks on the side, where you could hang your jacket. It was so cute!
Katie came back from Amsterdam, and we realized that we had no amazing New Year's plans. For a long time, we were contempt on going to Nuerenberg, but then we received a phone call from Matt, a fellow Clemson student who was visiting Janah in Munich. Janah is German, who studied abroad in Clemson for a year. Katie, Shawn, and myself decided to go visit them in Munich for New Year's. The train ride there was very interesting. Since Munich is a big city and it was New Year's eve, the train was overly crowded. There was a big group of people that were sitting or standing on the floor. Soon a guy whipped out his guitar and a lot of people joined in singing American and German songs. I didn't personally join in, but the American soldiers did, who were actually very obnoxious. On that note I have to say, the soldiers stationed in Germany are very rude and loud. They represent Americans terribly! I know they will be heading out to Iraq for our country but come on...you don't need to be an asshole in a foreign country! Anyways, after the train ride we go to Janah's when I realize that there were 3 other Clemson students there besides Matt. It was nice to be with the Clemson family. Shawn on the other hand didn't like it too much for he goes to USC, Clemson's rival school...poor Shawn!
Anyways, we went to a party downtown at one of the bars that also had a karaoke machine. What a night we had! At the bar I was hanging around my new friends that I met there, which I know for sure one guy was Anthony and the other Bucky. Anthony was the only one out of the group from America, actually he was from Miami. Supposedly he has some government type job in Nuerenberg...I don't know about that though. I think he was feeding me a lot of lies that night. Anyways, the good news is that I had a great time and didn't have to pay for any of my drinks! Yes, I did do karakoe one time...not planned. My good friend signed me up with my 'incredible' voice (I am being sarcastic by the way) for no other then Kelly Clarkson, breakaway. It turned out being fun, for I had the help of Katie, Shawn, and a random guy. Too bad we didn't get any pictures of that! The countdown at the bar wasn't anything amazing, but it soon was midnight and the new year 2007! Can you believe it? Time goes by too fast! We watched some fireworks and hung out at the bar a little longer. Soon the guys wanted to check out another place, but Katie and I were ready for bed by this time. We ended up getting lost and taking a taxi back to Janah's. We finally went to bed around 4:30. There were some interesting stories about the sleeping situation and what noises people were making. Supposedly I moan, but as Matt says, "It's like you were solving math problems in your head and were like O...Oh." Kind of embarrassing, but at least I don't snore or talk in my sleep!
Shawn went back to Bamberg ahead us, but Katie and I finally arrived in Bamberg around 8:30 p.m. Overall, I had a great New Year's!
It was now January 2, and I still hadn't received my package with my camera in it! It is so annoying, because I really want to take my own pictures and not use other people's pictures. Anyways, Shawn and I were on our way Belgium! We stopped in Koeln were we visited one of the cathedrals, which is supposedly one of the beautifullest in the world!

My Christmas
This year I spent Christmas with my great aunt Annie in Schorndorf. The way there was a disaster for me! I only had a big suitcase to travel with at the time, since my friend Katrina was using my gym bag as she was traveling back to the U.S. It also didn't help that I had four connecting trains in train stations that I never been. Anyways, I was doing fine until I had to get off at Aalen bahnhof. Germany can be a little difficult at times with the bahnhofs especially when they have two with the same name, and that is exactly what happened with the bahnhof Aalen. I saw the Aalen a/b bahnhof and wasn't sure if that was the right bahnhof, because it was so small, so I waited until the next bahnhof just in case. BAD DECISION! As I approached the next bahnhof, I realized that I was still wasn't at the right bahnhof, so I decided to get off and retrace my routes back to the Aalen a/b. After I got off at Wasserfindeln bahnhof, I realized how bad of a decision I made. There was absolutely NO ONE there. There was not even a car! I went to one of the electronic machines to purchase a ticket. Unfortunately the ticket they gave me was to a train that left ten minutes ago which was probably mine! I knew I had to somehow get in contact with my great aunt for she would be waiting for me at the Shorndorf bahnhof. Of course I didn't bring her phone number or address with me...ugh! I called my family and finally got in touch with my father while he was at work. He then called my mother who called my grandmother who called my great aunt, her sister. The message was interpreted as such, "Priscilla is lost in Germany." Obviously this type of message was not sitting well with anyone and everyone was worried. But that's not all! I then realize that I made a very stupid mistake not bringing my phone charger, because my phone was about to die as I was stranded at this abandon bahnhof. The next train finally came about an hour later and brough me back to the train station that one of my four connecting stops were at. I spoke with the conductor, who informed me that I would have to wait 2 hours for the next one to come! Eventually I made it to Schorndorf. Fortunately I remembered how to get to Annie's house from the store Aldi!
I stayed with my aunt until Thursday 28, so I was there to witness a traditional German Christmas. We had dinner/lunch together and then went to church. There was no gift exchange, which I was actually happy about, because I would have felt awkward. Christmas day and eve passed, and for me it felt like it hadn't. Supposedly it was hard for a lot of people to get into the Christmas spirit this year for that is what I heard from both Americans and Germans. Staying with my great aunt was like staying with my grandmother. We had a routine schedule: First we would have breakfast. Then we would either walk around the town until lunch or we would do something productive around the house/clean until lunch. After lunch I typically went for a long walk. At 3p.m. we had tea/coffee with a piece of cake or some cookies. Around 6:30p.m we had a small dinner/lunch, and then read our books until a movie would come on the television. Of course it was German, but I was able to understand it most of the time. Annie would usually go to bed around 10p.m and I would stay up to around 1a.m. That was the schedule for the time I was there. It really wasn't bad. I learned a lot about my family's fascinating history and was cooked really good meals!