Murphy's Law and Reese's Withdrawals

Murphy's law states that Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. It's closing in on about 4 or 5 months I've been in Deutschland learning German and getting "immersed" in this crazy culture. I've also been craving Reese's Cups like a madman!

                                 

So let's just jump right into it...

I lost my regional semester pass that lets me go to the nearby cities for free. Mind you that thing cost me a grip (66 euros). So after a week of searching and having to pay 2,30 € here and there to ride the bus, I decided to buy a new one. Mind you that cost me yet another 66 €. Today I received an email from the GIZ pretty much saying that they lost my receipt from the FIRST semester pass I bought so now I have to prove that I purchased it otherwise I won't be reimbursed and will be out 122€ of my own money instead of just 66.                 

   

The windows phone I typically use for my video blog and picture taking is kaputt so I can't capture any of the moments I experience over the next 7 or so months (digital cameras on this side of the globe are super pricey).

I got hit with a 47€ fine on the train to Heidelberg because the regional ticket I bought wasn't good until 9am (it was 8:40 at the time). 

A few weeks ago, I received another letter from German Customs pretty much saying, "screw you and your attempt to get your replacement iPhone into Germany, we're sending that sh*t back to America"....

While we're on the subject of Apple products......my Macbook charger is in a current state of WTF. When I first left for Germany there was a small little nick near the head of the charger, didn't think anything of it, 3 months later and this "high quality" innovative technological piece-o-crap looks like this!

this is UNACCEPTABLE almost 1/3 of the wiring is exposed!

I have no idea how it happened. I don't coil or wrap it, just plug and unplug it as usual. There's no extreme heat or anything in my room and my laptop doesn't overheat so.... Is there a mouse nibbling on it while I sleep? Or perhaps I'm a sleep eater that has a taste for rubber and metal? Either way I'm hoping that it survives until July 2014 because I'm relatively broke and a $80 replacement charger isn't on my priority list.  
Losing my semester pass (ON HALLOWEEN) caused for a really stressful night filled with walking several kilometers in the cold and resulted in my voice becoming raspy and Macy Gray-ish (I have witnesses who can attest to my voice) for about a week or so afterwards. Being sick affected my mood, mobility, and overall productivity. I couldn't go to class, got behind in a couple of my classes, and just couldn't deal with anything.

I'm currently on the internship hunt, but my Lebenslauf (Resume) is complete and utter trash so I have to spend the rest of the day redoing it and applying for internships in the surrounding area, hooray... 

passive aggressive sticky note

Time has moved so frickin' fast, I feel like I'm in Back To The Future or some other weird 80's time travel movie.

 I can't believe in just a week it will be DECEMBER! 

Between now and Thanksgiving I have to come up with a storyboard ideas for a animation project. I'm partnered with a British guy, but he hasn't been to class in a little while... get it together Joe. Not only that, I have to submit the list of companies I've applied for on the 28th (which at the moment is 0), prepare for my first German class visit I have on the 29th and of course I'm spazzing out about it. The good part is I get to see some good friends in Radolfzell and we're traveling off to Barcelona, Spain for a few days so at least that's something to look forward to.


Last weekend me and Chelsea took a trip to Paris, France and it was unbelievable! The most beautiful city/place I've ever seen in my life. So breathtaking... Here are just a few pictures from the trip...

 

"andddd I am tellllinnnngggg youuuu"

"I'mm notttt leeaaavvinnngggg"

Posing with Napoleon Bonaparte

outside Napoleon's museum (his tomb is here as well)

Fontaines de la Concorde

in deep thought with the mermaids.

ah ah ah! Masculin!

Grumpy Chelsea upset her hometown pancake syrup costs 6,50€ which is almost $9.

almost got raped on the Cheese aisle.

Arc du Triomphe!

I hardly wear Polo Ralph Lauren, but we were on the famous 50 Avenue Montaigne which is where ALL the most expensive designer stores are, so why not?

Luxembourg Gardens

Hunchback of Notre Dame Cathedral

Hunchback of Notre Dame Cathedral (tilted angle)

We saw a lot that each day including the Louvre, Luxembourg Gardens, Arc du Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, and much more. For more pictures you can check them out on my Instagram here.


There were so many pictures taken over that weekend, we did a Walking Tour (the free one of course) and saw Fontaine de la Concorde, Obelisk von Luxor, U.S. Embassy, The Grand Palais, walked down the infamous 50 Avenue Montaigne, saw the Flame of Liberty which is a full-sized, gold-leaf-covered replica of the new flame at the upper end of the torch carried in the hand of the Statue of Liberty at the entrance to the harbor of New York City but it was later deemed the unofficial monument of Princess Diana seeing that it is placed right above the tunnel where she had her fatal car accident in 1997, and ended at Place du Trocadéro where we took a good number of pictures and gave our tour guide a small tip. It was surprising and a bit embarrassing that Chelsea and I only gave her like 2 euros while the other people on our tour gave like 10's and 20's. I'm sorry but my survival guide says to only give a few euros at most, no way was I raking out 20€ for a FREE walking tour. No sir. 

Our Couchsurfer host Yves was über cool and gave us the key to his place for the weekend. He even cooked us breakfast on that Friday morning... He lived like 20 minutes outside of Paris and had friends that were visiting for the weekend so we didn't see much of him after he cooked us breakfast that morning. 

Baguette, Nutella, Schoko Croissant, can you be more French?

This Miel De Printemps was SO good, it's Honey but in a pure, sweet, creamy spread form. I want MORE.

The last train back to his place leaves at like midnight and for a bachelor like him that sucks. So he just stays at his friend's place until the following morning. He was awesome though and showed this amazing little restaurant where we had some authentic French cooking. I have yet to try "Escargot" and I probably never will, snails freak me out.

It's getting late in the afternoon and it's been raining all day (thank lil baby Jesus it hasn't snowed here yet), so I have to get started tackling these assignments and figure out how to get all of this done within my deadline of 6 days, while continuing to interact with Germans and attend class regularly.  I think need like an endless supply of Reese cups to get me through this next week.

That's all for now.
Bis spæter.