So, I am now in Germany, OFFICIALLY on the final leg of my trip! As much as I am loving the travel, it is really a terrific feeling being able to have an official under-one-week countdown started. I have just met up with a group with whom I'll be doing this German tour, and I'm really looking forward to that change of pace. A- The group seems AWESOME! We have all gone out for dinners the past two nights, and then stay up talking afterward back at the hotel. Really fun, young, ambitious group. So terrific! B- It starts to get lonely when you're traveling solo! I am a major, major fan of alone time and will often appear like an ahem, la-hooooser (*Jim Carey voice*) because I will be totally find spending a night solo than out and about. But when it gets to the point where nearly every meal is spent alone and there's nobody to share your fun adventures with, you really crave some good company. C- We are traveling to a different city every day with this trip, so we are busy, busy, busy! Time goes by a whole lot faster that way!
I should give Seoul a little wrap-up and say that it was so beautiful. The last day, I walked around their Olympic park, which was gorgeous. Their foliage looked so terrific (I'm chasing foliage in each country-- I love it!!!), and it gave me time to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city for a bit. The amount of people is staggering, so people are always pushing to get to where they need to be, whether it's in the subway, on sidewalks, or in stores. It seemed so offensive to me, but I know it's just a difference in culture. Another difference: everyone shares food from common bowls, but uses their own utensils. I hadn't really realized how different this was (and I was totally cool with it) but the more I thought about it, the more I realize that nearly every dish in the US that you'd share you'd be expected to scoop out your portion and leave it as such. But in Seoul you just keep picking at all the side dishes with your own chopsticks throughout the meal. (Not sure if I mentioned in this post, but every meal comes with side dishes. Even at the food court, which unlike US food courts actually has really awesome/ quality food, you will get a small kimchi-- pickled cabbage, their main side dish, served with everything-- and soup and probably some other type of picked veggie. Lots of fermented food products!) It was a great trip in Seoul. Lots of very kind people. Here are a couple of pictures from the Olympic park, and the chrysanthemums in the Buddhist temple I mentioned before. I went back to practice one time the night before I left.
BUT I AM SO EXCITED TO BE BACK IN GERMANY!!! Ah man I have just been SO happy to be here. Just walking to breakfast and being outside I am grinning ear to ear. There is something about the European culture that I just find so incredibly lovely. It always inspires me to adopt some of their habits back home, from the amount of walking to the great food and balanced eating (full-fat, hearty dishes, but REAL food and such quality, healthy food... minus my nutella obsession) to the love of art and innovation. Ahhhh it is so great!
Forgive the second round of all-caps, but I MET UP WITH LUTZ!!! My German host brother from EIGHT years ago! Oh how I love these old connections! It was so fun to get together, and felt like not a day had gone by! I was talking to my mom and saying how it is such a unique opportunity to have not seen each other since high schoolers (I studied in Stuttgart for five weeks after sophomore year, then Lutz came to live with the Kozzers for six weeks after that) and now to see one another. We are almost adults, a concept which is very strange to me. We are both in serious relationships, and so happy in them, so it was fun to talk about that. We're both aware of what we want to do in the future academically/ regarding our career. We just have a new awareness and maturity (don't laugh... I DO have some maturity ;-p ) that is so cool to witness. While we've kept in touch via Facebook and email, it's just wild to meet up again.
Have done some fun stuff, too, while here. Walking a lot!!! And in the morning I've been running in the English Garden, which is a huge park right near my hotel! Score =] I swear, every block on the street I want to take another picture because everything is so gorgeous. I've gone to the modern-art museum, some cathedrals, eaten amaaaazing food (there's a great central market where we had lunch two days ago). Even the unofficial tours are terrific, just to look around and drink in the culture and beauty of the surroundings.
Well, gotta run-- busy morning!!! Lots of love to all, and I'll update soon!
xoxo
PS- great job being you-- thumps up! =] (from a statue in Seoul)
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