Clara in Germany!

Rilke is my new best friend. He may not be German (he's Austrian) but he is arguably the most important poet in the German language. He also wrote poems in French. Oh Rilke, you show-off! ANYWAY, my goal is to read his "Letters to a Young Poet" in German, but of course, translating his feelings and tones are tough even for the pros. So, first I am working my way through it in English. It's sort of like a beautifully worded self-help book, which is something I can get behind. Here is a passage that acts as a big, fluffy, comforter when I am feeling especially guilty of my sadness: “Perhaps many things inside you have been transformed; perhaps somewhere, someplace deep inside your being, you have undergone important changes while you were sad. The only sadnesses that are dangerous and unhealthy are the ones that we carry around in public in order to drown them out with the noise; like diseases that are treated superficially and foolishly, they just ...

The trees are frozen. My fingers are frozen. All of the things are frozen. It's -2 degrees here. (I think that's about 22 degrees Fahrenheit, but it sounds more tragic in Celsius) Coming from Vermont, you'd think that face-slap air temperatures would be like a care-package from home. But what I have learned, is that your "how cold can it get until my whining is socially justified?" threshold is greatly widened when biking is a daily aspect of your life. All of you hardened mountain dwellers, hold your scoffs! This is not like, sporty biking, with the warmth suits and the sweat breaking. NO! Here, one must bike in the cold and then walk into places appearing as if they didn't just go through an upsetting experience. One should even look trendy while their at it. (Hint: SCARF. IT'S THE SCARF.) This "chilled chic" is an art that Germans have been perfecting their entire lives. With practic...

1) Sudden Bruce Love: The urge to dawn a red bandana a la Bruce Springsteen will overtake you like a wave. 2) Words of Home:  "Colorado".... "Cheeseburger". These words will suddenly become an honor to say aloud. 3) College: You trying to explain that college can cost 60,000 dollars, is like a mouse explaining the history of the mandolin. Adorable lunacy. 4) I bike therefore I am: The current state of your bicycle will be exemplified in your mood. Punctured tire, punctured soul. 5) Water Woes: You would like some ice-cubes in your water? I think you meant BUBBLES. 6) Poo with a Price: You will learn to repress your "I FOUND A BATHROOM!" jubilee until you've made sure you got a euro to spare. This is your life now. 7)  Nonsensical T-shirts:  You will see a shirt proudly displaying the New York City skyline. Said shirt will have "South Carolina" printed across it. This will both amuse and pain you.

Oy, I have a terrible cold in another country. Does this officially make me an everyday citizen? I feel like it does. As I have been guiding tea into my snuffly face, I have come to the realization that in one month or so, I will be halfway through my stay here in Germany. By this point last year, I had already sent out my application for this whole nutty thing. And It feels like just yesterday people were bidding me farewell, saying "You will have SUCH an amazing time." I have sure learned a lot since that four-month ago yesterday.  One thing I've discovered is that "amazing" is a toxic word. It conjures up ideas of unicorns and endless, uninterrupted blissfulness. And when that is the case, this experience does not get a " Certification of AH.MAY.ZING" sticker slapped on it. It doesn't even get a ribbon of participation. At first, this realization that my experience was not always meeting its "a...

I rang in the New Year all the way down south with my (biological) Aunt, Uncle and three cousins in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a German town bordering Austria. The Bavarian region (or Southern Germany) is a big change from my modern, urban home in Northern Germany. At least if you go to Garmisch you will see your fair share of Lederhosen outlet stores, fairytale houses, and crucifixes on mountains (things that would be hard to come by up here by Hamburg). Also, if you hear " Grüß Gott" (God's Greetings) don't be startled, it's just a Bavarian person saying hi. During my time there, we spent a lot of time waddling up snowy mountains. But it was certainly not in vain. In Garmisch, they have embraced the lovely idea of having mountaintop cabins where weary wanderers can enjoy Kaiserschmarrn (crisped and sugared up pancake bits, a beloved desert of an old Austrian emperor) and Windbeute...