Missing Deutschland

I've been missing Germany so I thought I'd reminisce about my time in the country. This is where I lived for half a year in Germany. *Schützenweg 42. I took the first picture in September when the weather was still great, a few weeks after I'd arrived. I can't believe I thought it was cold when I first got to Oldenburg in September. I always wore my red sweater from Forever 21 and leggings under my jeans. Once winter came along I realized how good we had it that first month! The second picture was taken in February. By this time I was so used to the rain and snow (snow I never see in Los Angeles, rain I only see so often and always leads to news about an upcoming apocalypse). This was the view from my window after the constant snow turned into constant rain. From my window I had a view of the train and if I remember correctly the brick building across from this view is a daycare. It's something to do with kids. If you were to go down the path near the daycare you would be lead to the botanical garden. I went down to the garden once and saw a few animals and plants that weren't yet in season. So a lot of it was just brown and green. I also saw a cat chasing a mouse. The cat actually caught the mouse and was playing with it...like viciously playing with it. Then a German lady grabbed the cat and reprimanded it. I thought that was hilarious! ^__^


Now that I look at the pictures they sort of represent my outlook at the time of being in Germany. The weather definitely plays a big part of your outlook on the world. First arriving in Germany everything was new! The sun was still out (although there were rain showers all the time) and I had so much to learn about the German culture and people. I became comfortable speaking the language even though I knew I making a lot of mistakes. I feel like I transitioned really well into the German culture because I went there with an open mind.

There are so many differences between American and German culture and after a while I just got tired of it all. The picture from my window is just that. Me looking out into the cold German world. That sounds so dramatic but that's how it felt at times. I think it was the weather that did it! I figured that culture shock finally hit me because all of the things I was having trouble with were things I didn't mind when I first got to the country. Even after all the emotions and leaving the country abruptly to get home for a funeral I still have love for that country. Germany is das Land der Dichter und Denker. I can feel it in the history of the cobblestone streets and churches. I can't wait to get back to the country!

*I don't know how to type umlauts from my laptop so I copy and pasted the ü from the internet. That's why it might look weird.

I'll write more about my travels in Germany and Europe. Soon!!!!!!

Everybody Goes to Hollywood

On Friday I went to Hollywood with a couple of friends. We had plans to hike up to the Hollywood sign but that didn't exactly happen. After the tiny hike we did walk around Hollywood. Let me tell you, I have a love hate relationship with this part of Los Angeles. But we can get to that later.

I woke up on Friday at 6:50am (sometimes it doesn't make sense the way I set my alarm) and left my house at 7:20 to pick up my friends in LA. By the time we left LA for Hollywood the sun was out and shining heavily on us. I've hiked the Hollyridge Trail up to the Hollywood sign twice before and had no trouble finding parking because we got there early enough. Friday we got there too late because there were tons of people hiking up Beachwood Dr. where they parked their cars. So I parked my car on Beachwood Dr. and then we walked up to the start of the trail. I had never really noticed a lot of the houses leading up to the trail but they are sooo beautiful! Some of them have an old world medieval feel, some of them look like little cottages and some of them are very modern. That might seem weird to have so many different styles of houses next to each other but it works for some reason. It must be that eccentric Hollywood air.The houses at the bottom of the hill have the most beautiful unobstructed view of the Hollywood sign. It's amazing. Nevertheless, I would not want to live on that particular street because it is crowded with cars and hikers. Anyway...once we finally walked up to the entrance of the trail we just went a little bit into it to see views of the city. I absolutely love views form hills and mountains! I don't know what it is but it makes me very emotional! When I lived in Germany I missed this very much because I was in a part of Germany that's very flat. Once we started travelling and we got to eastern Deutschland I saw hills and it was so amazing! It made me miss CA. So we just took some pictures and then went back down to my car to hang around Hollywood for awhile. Being us...the first thing we did was eat on Sunset. Haha. After that we walked around Hollywood Blvd. This is where my hate relationship comes in to place. Hollywood Blvd is such a tourist trap and on a Saturday--ughhhh--you have no place to walk. In the morning it's pretty much just shopping, eating and wax museum central. At night it's the same deal, the difference would be that more bars and clubs are open. I don't mind it at night but Hollywood just isn't my favorite place to be. The first time I went to Hollywood I was about 10 years old and I was so disappointed. I thought Hollywood was a place where you see celebrities and everything is beautiful and you get discovered but I was wrong. Well not totally...we saw a D lister on Friday. Basically, when I know people are coming to LA for the first time I would not take them to Hollywood first. That would be the last resort. Maybe it's because I'm not a native of the area so I clearly don't know that much about it. Maybe it's because I don't like being in such crowded walking areas where people are walking directly behind you and if you stop for a second they'll bump into you. But this won't be the last time I go to Hollywood. One day I'll figure the city out and maybe learn to sort of like it...and not only because I've been drinking :p