migration

dont worry i didnt miss it.
Last night a little goodbye get together was held for me and one of the others going to konstanz with me (the other was never seen outside of class). it was a good time and made me feel loved. i am glad that i choose to get to know those people better the last two weeks. made life much better.

so i was up till 1 or 1:30 fell right asleep and had the best sleep i had the whole month. figure that one out. i also had a dream in german. finally.
i woke up at 6 in order to make my bus to the train station. did so, and since i unfourtunatley did not have to pick father up i bought my ticket for the rest of the way here (bühlers). while i was waiting for the train out of paderborn i somehow started talking to some lady who was going all the way to stuttgart, she shared with me some valuable train information that i did not know, which was i only needed to change trains 3 times instead of 4 or 5 like i originally planned. we parted and then at the next stop i talked to her again. this was the longest layover of the day (20 min). parted again and then 2 hours later the connecting train was waiting at the platform right next to the one i was on. it was about to leave so i quick got on randomly, and guess who was there. the same lady. i found it pretty entertaining. the last train, stuttgart-rottweil i also just hoped right on. worked out quite well. the only hassle was carrying the bike through train cars, but without the suit case for it i would need special reservations. so actually it was easier.
since the bühlers were expecting me at 3ish and i got there at 1ish it took some time for a ride to be organized to pick me up, which was just fine. i sat outside the trainstation in the sun for a while.

eventually i got picked up, brought too my second home, and then since it was surprisingly warm out i of course went biking. i went up to Klippeneck 2 times. so 10k of climbing. fun fun. it took 15.25 at 85-90% HR to get up and 6 min to get down, bike felt nice and solid under me decending. i think we have finally become one.
of course the nicest picture taking weather thus far i forgot my camera. oops! maybe tomorrow it will be nice.
then after a nice large good quality meal, i watched the simpons. in german. but still the simpsons.

dad, hope surgery was fun, and you have a nice robitic looking arm.

sorry, i for some reason i cant put pictures on here. grrr. so there will be a bunch next time i am able.

the last day in paderborn.

today is the last full day of paderborn. i got up walked through the wet and windy weather to class. had a pretty normal class, got our tests back. i did ok. passed no problem, but made dumb mistakes like always.
after class i ate a quick lunch, then went back to the room and packed up the bike since the weather still unpleasent. im getting fast at putting the bike in the box, it only took me 20 of so minutes to take in apart and everything. then at 2 15 (instead of the planned 2). got the room all checked out so all i have to do tomorrow is leave the key.
then since i had nothing else to do i went to the grocery store one last time, and bought some ice cream. tonight is a little end of class/goodbye party in the room across from mine, the french kids room. i cant miss that...ha.
lucky the weather is staying mildily poor, the wind is really strong today and it looks like rain. but it is warm. at least it is not super sunny out with my bike packed away that would make me angry.
here are two photos of everyday things for me.

my "dorm," however my room is on the other side.

the walk to the uni. thats part of it in the back ground.

here is the website of the french kid i keep talking about. i think he said to use the one on the left. its better?

an eventful day...

this morning i woke up a bit early. since i am out of ceral and nearly out of bread, i made some eggs and fried up a potatoe. then i studied just a little bit more for the test. got to class, thought about checking my email and decided that it would "interrupt" my german thoughts. and its a good thing i waited too! so i took the test, wasnt nearly as hard as i thought it might be. which was good. i hope i didnt pull my usual thought i aced it but made a bazillion dumb mistakes...
after the test i checked my email...and found out that father is unable to come and visit because of his newly broke wrist. he broke it so bad he needs surgery and metal bars. way to go dad, but terrible timing. just terrible. so that definatley interrupted my german thoughts. and i was pretty much zoned out for the rest of class. (the test only took an hour).
during the breaks of class i tried to get some "skypeout" credit so that i can call regular phones from skype, but for some reason i couldnt. since i am related to a conspiriacy theory mastermind i thought that maybe just maybe someone was playing tricks on me, and i wanted to talk to dad just to make sure...at lunch i talked to one of the other americans and found out that ALL incoming calls are free on my cell phone. and by all i mean all. thank you O2! so i called home to tell them to call me. and so that worked out quite nicely and talked to the whole family at 5 30 in the morning their time. oops! dang dayligh savings screws everything up (ive already changed my clocks). so i felt much better after that. then i SMSed anne bühler to tell her the news, and found out that both christoph and her will be at home this weekend. that made me feel better. i will have entertainment! haha. not that leo and vera are not entertaining, but ya know..
went for a bike. felt ok.
ate potatoes and sauce and hamburger for dinner, was good.
packed just about everything but my bike, for tomorrow my room gets inspected and i have to be ready to go...
then on the way to the internet i got a call from leo to talk about the massive change in plans. a good 5 min. conversation all in german, and i understood and did not have much trouble replying. horray! my german is better.
and that is my eventful day (in novel form).
sorry pictures dont work well when all important things are talking...

by the way. now that i know i get free incoming calls, feel free to call...just check the time to make sure im not sleeping....004917665962683
you just have to pay a lot!

almost done.

tomorrow is the "big" test. when the teacher was asked she said it will only take about an hour, and shouldnt be to hard. but ya never know.
today was just class, then a hard bike. which consisted of intervals of 6 minutes. i am really curious as to see if i have gotten any faster or not. it is pretty hard to judge when you usually bike by yourself. i guess i will just have to race and see. oh darn.
then brats and french fries. other than that i studied a little. oh! i also return my Pfandflaschen. the Pfand is a tax on bottles and i brought my juice bottles back to the store, i got 1.50 for 6. i thought that was pretty neat. however the lady before me had 30 some bottles, it was crazy.
well i guess i will be studying a bit more now...
2 days till the move. and dad comes.

holy crap!

it was nice out today. 18 C (64 F) well most of the day. it was also holy crap windy, max gust of 67 km/h (41 mph).
class started at noon today because the teacher had to do something, so i got some studying for the test in this morning. went to class without a jacket. and during the first hour of class it was cloudy and poured for about 10 min. the second hour of class the weather totally changed. it got nice and sunny nearly all the clouds went away too. i was so antsy by the end i pretty much ran back to my room to get out biking. i didnt even bother with leg warmers, shoe covers, long underwear, hat, or warmish gloves. just shorts and a long sleeve jersey (i started out with short/arm warmers but i saw clouds moving in). so i took off, of course faster than i wanted to, i dont know what it is about the warm that makes me want to go fast. but i figured it out and slowed down for the rest of the time. but alas about 10 min after i started it got cloudy, and the wind picked up, luckily not cold, but no sun...so i biked for an hour 40 in the clouds, and what seemed to be a strong head wind. then the last 20 minutes were really really nice. i mean really nice (besides the wind). I easily could have worn only shorts and short sleeve jersey.

it was a lot nicer in person, but this is in the really nice valley to bike in
and this is after that, getting very green...

about 15 min after the second picture i got home, did the usual bike clean/shower. and then did a tiny bit more studying. it was really nice out again so i had trouble looking at the paper when looking out the open window was so much more interesting.
then for dinner i made spätzle and sauce, and i actually succeded this time. and since i had 4 dinners left at that point, i made a lot. i now have just the perfect amount for 3 more dinners.
but making a lot meant i had to eat a lot. i have not been this full for a good month or so. it feels pretty good..
somebody is watching the simpsons down the hall and i want in!

shorts!

Finally, after many months of wearing tons of clothes biking, i was able to take off the leg warmers. and ohhhh it was so nice. the wind on the (hairless) less and not wearing any hat, or windblocking something on the top. wonderful...
when i woke up this morning it was a bit rainy, but warm. after about an hour of sitting around being lazy i got ready and went. i started with leg warmers, but after about 10 min i took them off. the time was about noonish and the bank clock said 16 C (61) so i can only imagine it got warmer. i felt really good at the start of the day and went a little to fast...over 30 kmh for the first 20 km, which is pretty much all uphill. but i also had a very strong tailwind. eventually i realized what i was doing and slowed down. i went again today up to the heavily windmilled area (pictures somewhere below) and to my surprise and delight, no snow! all gone. i guess i shoulda figured that out when every river, and low spot was full of water. the windmills were really cool today, because there were going really really fast and making lots of noise. fun to hear...
a little while later i took this picture

no snow, oh and the sun came out.

after a good 3 hours 10 min of biking i got home, washed the bike. then went to another kitchen to cook a brat, cause my kitchen still had no power. and while walking out of the area i noticed a fuse box looking thing. and thought hey, if they have one i should too. and whadya know, right there in plain sight was a nice big fuse box. i felt like an idiot. been without power because i (as my parents know) do not have the ability to find anything...but i flipped the switch and now the kitchen has power again, im glad too, my ice was close to being gone!
but dont worry my food is still good.
and i guess i "owe kait big" because she paved the way to allow for study abroad. but i dunno i beat her to europe. i think. but anyways that came up cause its he birthday. so happy birthday.

finally warm.

today it was finally warm. althought it was cloudy and raining off and on it was finally warm. 15 i think it got up too. and it is still warm, and the birds are still singing very loudly...since it was supposed to be cool and raining i had a predecided day off from biking. i also needed to do some things that required lots and lots of walking, so i figured that would make up for it.
after breakfast i went to return my applejuice bottles and get the money back for that. but unfourtunatley the returner machine was full. so i had to walk all the way back with those. then i ate some lunch. snuck into another kitchen since mine still has no power (by the way the ice i have my food against is staying really well. i am pleased). It was finally time to buy my train ticket south! wahoo. so instead of taking the bus and paying i and another american who is migrating as well walked the walk to the train station. it is a 45 min walk one way...took about a min. to buy the ticket and the had to walk back.
got home, studied a bit for the test, which is on wednesday. and by the way i feel pretty confident about. i have figured out most of the unknown things finally. then talked to the french kid about dinner, we are having fondue. itll be cool. fondue with a french. ha!
on the side, ive decide pidgeons have to be amoung the least graceful of birds. i saw one landing in a tree today and it was ridiciouls to watch. wings flapping all over, elevation changing darastically, not just down, but up? and going really fast when it landed. i bet the branch nearly broke. i will have to get a picture next time.

clubbin it.

last night after eating polish soup and meat and potatoes we (some of the exchange students) took off to a club. my first clubbing experience. we got there a bit early and there was not much action, but by 1 it was pretty crowded and it was a grand old time being roudy. i and another left at around 2. got back went to bed.
woke up at 9 and could not sleep any more so i ate some breakfast then went for an easy 90 min bike. i went once more to Schloß Neuhaus, hoping this time to find the Schloß. i failed again. it was really quite windy today, when i was going with the wind i was over heating and could have easily ridden in shorts and longsleeve with long underwear. but the wind was a bit cool so i could not do that, at least i know its trying to get warm now. i hope!
i noticed my frame was nice and bright today...

nice and bright...virtual on jakes bike, kinda.

after my bike i went to the store, got what i needed. and noticed that they had "Kanada-Ahronsyrup" or canadian maple syrup. i was quite surprised, but it was 3 E for a fairly small bottle.
then i made some grilled cheese, the best ive ever had...it was amazing for some reason. but while i was cooking my last one, the power died. so now my hallway or kitchen has no power. no good...luckily the french kid has a small kitchen in his room and he let me use it to finish up lunch, and make dinner.
tomorrow i book my ticket south! horray!
check out the wonderful weather for the next week

the americans are:

i have been pretty lucky these past couple of days, it has been sunny out. today was the nicest day thus far. not a cloud in the sky, bright sun, happy birds.
since our theme in class today was travel, we talked a bit about stereotypes of people from certain countries. so the us came up. so from the people in class that spoke up, this is what ive found out... the belgian see americans as lazy, and like to eat hamburgers. aparently canadians see us as fat, and eat unhealthy (to many hamburgers?). the polish see american as the country that rules the world...with force. the finns said, lazy, fat, and bad a geography. and the teacher. from eastern europe, but in germany for quite some time added, that we are superficial, not a whole lot goes into our relationships, and that we all eat fast food all the time (more hamburgers) i think that most of these things are pretty true. coming from a place where i guess you could say is not typical american (everyone skis, runs, eats well, is well educated, etc...) i could not really deny any of these for most americans. kinda sad. not a whole lot of positive in there...
after class and a good lunch of chili (con carne) i of course went biking. since i was feeling pretty good i decided that i would do something hard, since i had not done any hard stuff for a couple of days i decided quite hard. so i did some long ladders (5,7,10 and back down) hopefully that is good for something...if that only hurts me let me know so i dont ever have to do them again. any ways there was a pretty stiff wind today, luckily i had the strongest headwind on the way out. so after 20 min i started the ladders, and for the first 3 there were all uphill, and into the wind. maybe a dip in the road here or there, but nothing big. about 2 min before the highest point (elevation) in the ride the 4th started so i had a long downhill into the wind, i did not know it was possible to make downhills hurt like that. so eventually i finished those, and ended up on the climb that i first did with paul, so i took that one fairly hard too. by the way i did that same route plus a little bit. i took a picture near the top of that. not very good, but hey its a picture.

look no jacket or hat!

eventually after another section that was pretty much into the wind? no idea how, i though i had a for sure tailwind at that point, i turned a bit and had a nice tailwind to carry me all the way (7 km) home.
total time was 2hr 43. distance was 69.55. avg hr. 146

after i got back i ate a bit. i am also eating with the others tonight, but not till later. the pole is going to make some polish soup. i wonder if it will be good?
ive been sharing the Reeses i got as to not get fat. they are a huge hit with the europeans. (and myself) but they just love em....

storage or art...

since on tuesday nights in paderborn there is this thing called "flammenbaum" which from what i gather is a club has cheap drinks, many people go there and party late into the night. sooo, today in class there were 4 out of 10. we got some good learning in. i am actually understanding /getting things right, that i have never been able to figure out. its about time!
for some reason i have been tired all day today (no i was not partying). my legs were no exection so i took it easy today, an hour fairly slow. hopefully ill feel better tomorrow with an early bed time tonight. if i feel good tomorrow i think i am going to go do some hill repeats somewhere...
plans are to eat with the frenchy and pole tonight...and thats about all my day has consisted of.

i see this every day, and wonder...table in storage or some kind of art? what do you think?

more tacos.

well today. the first day of spring brought a new sight to me in the morning, that being the sun. not often do i have the chance to see it so early. however it was still a bit chilly, but thats ok i guess. sun equals warm.
after a fairly normal class i went and talked with the hausmeister (land lord) about when i am leaving. then went for a bike.
i did basically the same loop as yesterday, except backwards, and one village further out. so total time was 1hr 55. but only 3 km more. i went a bit slower. partly because whatever i had for lunch was not sitting well at all. i mean not at all! nearly threw up a couple of times, but eventually that resided and i felt better. also going backwards means that instead of going up mildly steep hills that are around 6% i go up not steep hills that are nice and long. the longest section without any downhill whatsoever is 8.9 km. it may not be steep but still uphill! i figured that since i got to the high point at 28ish km, and there is for sure no more than 3 or 4 km (no lies this time) of downhill between there and paderborn it is a good hill climb. but again not very steep. i lucked out with the wind. a true headwind for only the first 10 minutes of the ride, the valleys blocked it the rest of the time!
got back from riding at 4 30 and then had nothing to do till 8 (eating) so i cleaned my bike really well. i at least wipe it down everyday, but not super clean it like today. did some studying, wrote a letter.
then at 8 the i got the french kid, and the polish kid came over and i made tacos. again. i made them just the other night. i guess the frenchy liked them. it was the first time the pol. had tacos. he enjoyed them. we had a good discussion about the US. they asked me things about it, and i heard what they had to say. really quite interesting. most interesting thing was probably that they said most people in their countries want to move to the US i told them it was not all it was cracked up to be and it amazed them...we also discussed how G.W. is..well...not liked.

on a different note...last night getting back from the grocery store there where a couple of EMS vehicles outside of my dorm. apparently last night when the group i was eating with left the dorm they were carrying out a body. i heard that there was some accident, or body failure. kinda strange, the action was on my floor, just a different wing. i want to know what actually happened but dont think that information will ever be available......

my shadow and i

this morning brough another cloudy paderborn day. class went along as normal. lunch was a bit small. then i had to sit around and wait for a recipie for fake maple syrup from dad, which i did not get to use because i cant find molases(sp) and vanialla costs about 4 E for a tiny tiny bottle. dont think its worth it...so dad, or ingrid, or anyone else who comes. bring some syrup please.
today the waiting paid off though. very nicely. i called paul to see if he was riding, but he has been very busy lightly with what i think is his thesis. so no time for biking. as i walked out of the building i realized the clouds had left and the sun was shining nice and (almost) warm. so i got my bike and took off. a few minutes out of town i got to warm, finally, and took off my hat. wahooo! and i did a new route which is now my favorite. it goes up a really nice 2ish km hill that has switchbacks and such. very nice. and goes through some nice small towns up to the highlands. pretty much half up hill and half down. it was very nice. i went a bit harder than i have been going these past few days (135 avg hr, by the way max is 197). i did that mostly on the uphills just because i felt good. got to the high point and came back down. the sun was shining and lighting up my bike real nice, but i missed the best angle and the picture did not turn out. so...

my riding buddy...

eventually after a long into the wind section i got back to paderborn and my room happy with very decent ride. (1 hr 38min, 54.something km) it is definatley my favorite route in the area. it would be a perfect route to have the school group with, good climbing for those of us who like it, good sprinting, the whole works. would be a great time. the only problem is since there are so many little towns we would always be sprinting. hahaha.
sat around until 7 when the french kid across the hall from me and i went down the the grocery store to get what started out as pancake supplies, but ended up being brats and french fries, i cooked them up and a kid from poland came and joined us. however meal time was delayed because the french kid shut his keys in his room and could not get in (doors here are not openable from the outside without a key) to get the corkscrew for the wine the polish kid brough. so of course they put dinner on hold (i was fine with my milk, but they insisted! i did not mind waiting either though). they went to find someone with a key, but while they were gone i managed to pick the lock with a credit card and saved the day, for there was noone with a key. eventually they got back followed by another french kid, an american, and his girlfriend which is visiting. so we sat around for about 45 minutes talking and the 3 of us who started dinner eating and drinking the wine (which was very good by the way), and putting a dent in the piles of Reeses mom sent. then i said i had to go check the internet and everyone said ohh what a good idea, but they have not showed up yet...
thats my day!

picture from yesterday. however, this same spot is along my route from today, but going the opposite way...

the week ends. the week begins

today brough a decent start to the new week (yes i do believe a week starts on a sunday). i woke up early again, not by choice. but i just have lost the ability to sleep in recently, dont know why. and sat around. tried to check my email but i think the olaf email is broken...grrr.
then i went for a bike. lucky for me the blue sky rolled in a few minutes before my departure. the sun was really nice, and i had a tail wind on the way out and i was almost to warm! finally, but then i turned back into the wind and i got cold again...bah.
2 hours and 8 minutes....
picture does not work....sorry

other than that is has been a low key day.

a few observations.....
i noticed today (especially) that almost anyone who is out walking that is between the ages of 30ish to 65ish walks with poles. its kinda weird. whats up with that?
the main building of the university is dumb. the gaurds lock what i consider to be the main doors before 7 p.m. on saturday and sunday nights. also you have to check in after this time. it is rediciouls. especially because it means i have to walk an extra 5 minutes or so. no fun.

something new.

when i went to bed last night i was hoping that i would be able to sleep in. unfourtunately that did not happen...
at around 9 this morning the mailman came. since our mailboxes are to small for packages they deliver it to the door. so he rang my doorbell dealy and i got up very confused and went to the door. still confused as to what was happening i signed my name and got the package. i had asked for some peanut butter and reeses. my mom sent enough to feed the entier dorm...

i am going to get fat.

i tried to go back to bed but was unsuccesful. so i ate some breakfast and eventually decided to go for a bike. really easy...40 min with an avg hr of 106. i dont even know if that is considered a ride!
it was now 1ish so i thought hey, why not go into the city, i have not done that yet. so in i went. my goal was to find a camera shop and ask about getting a new part for my camera (i dropped it after biking one day, and the battery door broke), after about 2 hours of walking through the maze of shops and all i found a good store and ordered the part. then i thought why not go look at the church, havent done that yet. so i did. it is a very old and large church...

there was no good angle from outside, to big, and it was dark inside. i tried

2 "counties" 24 cities

this morning i woke up feeling pretty strong, so i said what the heck ill go for a long bike. i looked at a "map" of the area that i have and saw a palace that looked nice, then i saw a hill, but i figured that i can bike up hills at home, but not see castles. however my desire to fight gravity got the better of me and i decided to do both. since paul was not riding today i had to make my own route..
I started by eating about a 1/4 loaf of bread. and 2 waterbottles and some ceral. good breakfast...then took to the road. i first went to the castle or palace, whatever it was. i thought it was going to be a good hour and a half away, but it was only i think 20 km. mostly flat. except 3 km uphill to the Schloß. it was a nice little city around it. around the Schloß looked really old the streets were tiny and it was quite nice. i went down a road by the castle to look for a better view but only found a really really old rock wall (perhaps medieviel) to pee on. that was fun.
then i took some pictures.

near the castle

i asked a lady to take a picture.

after i visited that for a bit i took off over some fairly flat land. only a few hundered meters of up and down here and there. then eventually i made it into the hilly area. which was what most of my ride was in. they were only "rolling" hills, but rolling hills in this area consist of going up (or down) for 2,3, or 4 km at a time. then doing the opposite. not short hills like home and school. also ever since i left the castle i had a headwind of id say around 15 km/h. so up and down i went. with a little bit of flat inbetween. so for the next 40 or 45 km i had a nice headwind....i tried to take a picture but it did not turn out.
Mom dont read...
as i was cruising down one of these hills a tractor caught up to me and i could not pass up the oppurtunity. so i got behind him and for the next 10 or 15 minutes, 5 min down, 10 upish. i drafted him at 45 km/h. i followed blindly cause it was just so fun. then he turned and i just happen to be in the right city..lucky me. after awhile and some more wind and hills i got to my next city and going up the hill out of that one i got another tractor! wahoo. this time i was really lucky cause it was up in the windmill fields with an extra strong headwind. so i sat behind him up the hill then passed him on the small down hill.

tractor no. 2

OK you can read again...
i was now in some forest area so the wind was not to bad, but i had to go up quite a bit. so it took awhile. about an hour later i got to a main point where i thought the road to my final destination was. it actually was the right road, but the map lied and told me there was a city there when there was not...anyhow. after going down a long hill to where i thought i should be i came across a busy road. the signs said go this way. but i dont think they were for bikes. after about a minute on the road i decided i was not supposed to be on it (4 lanes, gaurdrails, etc..) so i quick turned around and went back up the (6 km) hill i just came down. by this time. my breakfast and one granola bar and first bottle of water had worn off so i was pretty tired. but i got to the top. ate my second bar and finished my second bottle. luckily on the way down i found a well with free water! that a bunch of people were filling up jugs at. why i dont know. it was not that good of water...the water gave me energy and finally, frozen, and with a tail wind i cruised back down at about 40 km/h most of the way to Paderborn. so that was my adventure through 2 counties and around 24 cities. surprisingly my legs still feel great. definitley not like they do after a long ride. maybe i am getting stronger!

my route (i think)
4hours 46 min. 118.3 km

i talked to the french kid across from me about dinner tonight. he said ok so i made tacos..was pretty good. but i ate to many...my stomach hurts now.

delicious and nutritious

class was decent today. again working on what i wanted too. which was reflexive...directly translated it would be...i try myself the jacket on...i just cant figure out why include myself in it. crazy germans. but it makes more sense now...then we watched "goodbye Lenin," it was a decent movie. i believe it is a tragi-comedy. so if your looking for a movie in that category watch it!
biking was ify today until i went. i thought it was cold, because of the clouds. but it was actually 4 so not to bad. i did an hour 15, 10 min which i spun above 110 uphill, that kinda hurt. but good after. then easyish. then on the way into town i chased cars. it was fun. one car had a kid id say around 12 or so in the back and he just sat there watching me. kinda funny. but i was cruising at that point, the road was flat and i had a slight tailwind. id say right around 30ish (mph) for a good couple km. other than that not super exciting.

to make mom happy...

then dinner was as above delicious and nutritious...penne speghtii, brocolii, milk. good good. id say it even outdid last nights. i have made it before while here, but i just did it right tonight...wahoo! for dessert was apple and nutella. i highly recomend it.i dont know why i keep taking pictures of food...or posting them?

15 down 15ish to go.

i have now been in paderborn for 15 days. and have around 15 more till i get to go south. wahoo! even though its not to bad here. except the weather...i still like the south so much more.
class was not bad today, we are learning useful stuff finally. first time thats happened in quite some time.
bike ride was decent as well. i went out and found the hill i was talking about the other day, and i lied. it is only 2 km long. i dunno why it felt so long before. i did find a 3 km hill today though. all i had to do was take a right at the bottom of the 2 km hill! actually i think i figured out the reason that the hill felt so long was because i had lost my climbing legs. today on the way home, up the hill, all of a sudden i felt really good climbing. not like crap as i had before. i think all the flat stuff, and not having actually done any real climbing since the col du red wing last fall i stumbled across my climbing legs today. finally! the rest of that climb felt so good. it took around 6min 30. at a medium pace. the wind hated me today. i had a headwind going out and the a headwind for most of the way back...that sucked.
then tonight for dinner i decide since i had lots of spätzle (noodles) for lunch id go with brats and fries. i made the brats like my new cook book said which was to basically fry them in oil for 10 min. instead of my usual boil. and oh man was it good. i think two of the best brats i have ever had. sooo good. the fries were also quite good. however i only fried a hand full in the oil. the rest i baked. unfourtunately i am sure this dinner is packed full of calories and not all that nutritous. so i cant eat it every night...it was by far the best meal ive made here.

mmm...might look ugly, but sooo good.

i recently figured out why whenever i ate nutella i thought of kinder eggs. the first thing that i noticed is that the N in nutella was brown, the rest orange. and the K in kinder brown, the rest orange. and all-be-darn they are made by the same company! i dont know why i did not notice that before. i wonder if the unhealthiness of nutella is cancelled by the bread?

my way.

todays class was pretty good. during the first break we have i just stayed in the room to email, and the teacher was there for a few minutes. so i just asked her if we could work on the things i need to work on...she said yes. so basically a class catered to me. horray! of course a few extra things that i hopefully understand, but mostly for a few days what i want.

after class i went up to the mall type thing on the other side of the uni. i had been thinking about buying a cook book for some time now so i did that. unfourtunatley i had to spend 10 E to get it...i better use it!all german recipies(?)

Then i went over to the grocery store for the first time there. it was huge. i like. i think even a bit cheaper than the one down the street. i got a few things the best of which was this giant nutella container.2.50 E or 1.70 E?

i went back to the room, looked at the cookbook for around an hour, then decided if i was going to eat the food in it i better go burn some calories. so i went for a 75 min ride. i went up into the hills a bit today into the wind the whole time i was climbing. i looked at my watch at 20 min, at the bottom of the long long climb. checked at the top and it was at 40 min. turned around. and checked it at the bottom again...44 min. downhill and with the wind was fast. i was working on the uphills too. not being lazy at all.
then i cooked a creation from my own head. i ate a lot of it. not because it was super good (wasnt bad) but i over estimated the amount of rice that was cooked...

exactly half of dinner.

a split and no noodles.

today the class was split in half, partly because it was big. 16 people, which i guess is huge for a german class. and because the levels are a bit different. i unfourtunatley got put in the lower of the two. at least that is what i was told. we got the new teacher, which is great. because now i dont have to switch every two days and no longer have the crazy teacher. wahoo! the new teach should be good. we did not do anything hard today, i think just because she wanted to find out where we were. personally i think she will be much better than the other two. and eventually we will get the harder stuff first. i hope
i biked today as well. nearly 3 hours, easy though 120 avg. HR with only a 148 max. but still at the end i felt as if i were bonking...no good. i think it was because it is cold again -1 was the high today, so i dont drink much at all then. i drank less than 1 bottle for 3 hours. no good. the cold really screws up my hydration for some reason. other than that not a very eventful ride. just a ride.
for dinner i made chicken and french fries and brocolii. for lunch it was schnitzle. (pork with a batter coating) and potatoes. this makes it the first day i have been noodleless here. i think...

he does go hard.

my plan for the day, because it was cold, was to just kinda sit around. maybe learn some german.
paul called at 1 30 asking to go biking, of course i cant not go!
we started out going a new direction out of paderborn, due to the fact that i dont know where north is yet. i dont know which direction it was. anyway we went straight towards the hills today. i think paderborn is a bit higher than the surrounding area cause we hardly went up at all and we were as high as it allows i think. all around there were tons and tons of windmills. probablly bigger than carletons even. but we took a route that went into a valley, though the country. it looked like a totally different place the other side of the hill. was really nice. then we started to climb in the forest. not steep, but pretty much always up. and up most of the hills we went fairly hard eventually we broke out into a new field of windmills where there was lots of snow too. thats where these pictures are from...

Paul with a few of the windmills. (both sides of rd, many far away too)

me and windmills

after the windmill sector we went down a nice long hill. what goes down must go up! so id say 10 k after the long down hill and weaving through the cities we got to some switchbacks...the whole time since the top of the downhill we had been going fairly hard,taking turns pulling, and on the hill we went really quite hard. it hurt. prob. around 4 km id say. and pretty steep! finally a hill! and paul is a good climber, so we traded off pulling the whole way up too. at the top we eased off for about 5 min, then picked it up quite alot for another 15 or 20 min. then we finished that and went easy the last 6km back to Paderborn. Paul was happy that i was able to keep up and pull and all. said it will be very good for training. horray! a hard bike ride today though. felt good.
64 km
2 hr 22
avg HR 145 with max of 186.

rabit!

Yesterday marks the day of the furthest north in germany i have been. i guess i could say europe, because do airports really count?
Anyways i was in Hannover. a 2 hour trainride northish. The weather as usually around here sucked. quite windy, snowy, and cold. not fun for a day of walking around a outside. When we first got there we went on a city tour. it was mildly interesting, but we hurried from place to place because of the cold, so not to many stories or anything. The first place we went was the Rathaus, the new one actually which is 90 years old. so quite new. due to the snow i did not get any good pictures of it. i am sure there are some good ones online. just search for Hannover Rathaus on google images or something... Inside was pretty nice. there were the models of the city that were really neat. from 1689,1939,1945,now. the oldest one had the walled city and all. the 1939 was before the war, 1945 after, the 1945 was really well done in that there was piles of rubble and all dusty looking and just really well done. its hard to see in the pictures i have so i wont bother.
then we walked a bit. i got this picture of two different churches i thought were decent. during the 20 min the sun came out the whole day.

sunny only during time spent looking at churches???

The city tour ended soon after and we had the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. it was cold so we just sat inside an eatery for a while, went to the Apple (mac) store, and then a pub for a few hours. moving from place to place i saw these...

couldnt pass up a picture of the brat man...

sauna anyone?

after a few hours of sitting it was dinner time. we went to a spanish restraunt. since it was a group trip we got dinner paid for! horray! but not drinks. but i decided to spend a bit on the drink and got sanguia (sp) wine, fruit, and sugar? maybe? just a bit of it. it was really quite good. and to eat since i saw kaninchen on the menu. that means rabit. i thought, hey im not paying for it so why not try something new? other than the 10 E to come,(train tickets and dinner which adds up to around 20 E? figure that out.) but i got the rabit, and it was really good. it came with delightful potatoes as well. id highly recomend trying it someday.
we then took the late train back and got to paderborn at 11.
and thats about it.
now i go biking! horray!

106.82

today i finally got to ride with the germans again, and as the title suggests. a pretty long ride. 106.82 km.
We went north today, i think, but i could be totally wrong. i know we were on the far side of Lippstadt from Paderborn. Lippstadt is a good 45 km away. there were only 3 of us at the start. Karsten (the one with the backpack in the picture) needed to go home? or to his parents home? or something near Lippstadt. so Paul, the guy mentioned a few days ago. and i rode with him till there and then turned back. today started fairly sunny, got cloudy. drizzeled at the start of our ride, then got sunny for a good hour and a half, then some how we lucked out and went right between two big rain storms. since where we went today was flat you could see pretty far. then it got sunny, or partly cloudy for the whole way home. but it was warm, fairly warm, and thats what matters...8 degrees. quite nice actually. i think spring might be here. hopefully.

paul and karsten, near lippstadt.

sorry i didnt get a better picture, but its good enough for now.
It was pretty windy today. i think about 30km/h the whole way out, so the way back was nice and fast. paul and i cruised along. he told me about some of his long bike rides, one of which he did the exact tour route 2 weeks after the tour in 25 days, solo, with a backpack and panier. (pros are 21 days). he also said he went from Morroco to paderborn once too. and someday he wants to do the race across america. and finally i found out he works 4 months out of the year, all of which are biking. he gets enough money to live the rest of the year...crazy. enough of him..
i felt pretty good riding today. even with my hardish run yesterday. i actually feel better now than at the start of the ride.
ride time was 4 hrs 14. a bit slow i guess but, thats ok.
avg. hr was 126, so not working to hard either.
today was the longest ride on the madone yet. which now has 430 km on it.
Tomorrow i go to Hannover.

a new friend...

well i guess the day was not all boring. Every day i sit in the same spot to update this and email. and every weekday the Putzfrau comes with her vacuum, vacuuming the coblestone floor...the germans love to have clean floors i guess. anyways today she came by like always at around 7 30 and did her regular sweep. i noticed her vacuum was broken so i told her. and she was like oh yes i know it broke a while ago.
then after she was done with the little area she came and sat at the table next to me saying she was tired. then she proceeded to talk non stop for the next 10 minutes. I found out she is from Romania, that she think german grammar is very hard. that she does not get paid enough. that even though her vacuum is broken the uni wont buy her a new one. that she cant retire till she is around 65 and in romania everyone is done at 58. that she had been working for 4 hours already today, and a few things more. of course she had a romanian accent to her german thus making it a bit hard to understand. so i am sure i missed a bunch more. im sure ill talk to her again so ill keep you all updated...

her and her vacuum

rainy day.

as the title says it has been a rainy day. it was raining last night when i went to bed, and has not stopped raining since. at least everything is clean now.
because of the rain i decided to not ride my bike as to keep it in a bit better shape, also rain and 4 c dont mix well when riding. so i went running, yes again. for 45 min. then for the heck of it ran the stairs in one of the univerity buildings. on my way up to it i counted 7 floors. to my surprise i got to floor 9. i did that 3 times and it made me tired.
Since the my bathroom smelled a bit bad ever since ive moved in (i think the previous owner had bad aim, ick...) i decided to wash the floor. i am very lucky the floor has a drain and the shower a power mode. washing it was simple!
Other than that it has been a low key day. no class fridays for us. so there is a party tonight. maybe ill stop by for a bit. see what i can mooch. hahaha.

for dad.

the first withdrawl..

Today i made my first withdrawl of money...it is a sad day, that means i have spent 150 E. but i suppose with buying a bike pump, and a phone, and that kinda thing its ok. the most exciting thing about the ordeal is that unlike at home when you get money, its all 20s. here i took out 40 E and it gave me one 20, one 10, and two 5s. really neat i think...
We had the new teacher today, she was a bit strange. we did something where we had to stand up and make YMCA type movements to remember the vowels? or something like that? and the rest of the 3.5 hours of class i learned nothing. at all...
I finally shaved my face today, first time in a good 3 weeks. partly because i did not have any shaving cream, and the fact that i was just lazy. it took a good 25 minutes.
For many months now, i have been battling intense dandruff. i mean intense...ha! but i picked up some head and shoulder here to see if it might work better. and whadya know....but why?

The one on top works better...but why? (sorry computer wont put it right side up.)

It was too cold to bike today. snowing again...and it was really really windy. windy for even northfield weather.

Living cheaply.

You thought i was cheap at school? wrong. ive got super saver now. A few ways how included below:
1. washing laundry by hand. It is super expenive to wash with machines. 1.70 E for washer and another Euro for drying. hand is free!!
2.Eat cheap food, which is not hard at all. cause as i said before everythings cheap. Also if i buy only the things i need to eat, i will probably eat healthier. less saturated fats as mom would say.
3. Not party a whole lot. yes, even though i am in germany. I dont really want to party every weekend or today like most are doing. even though beir is cheap. (3.54 E for a 6 pack of Becks) that will add up fast!

I am going to see if i can do under hopefully 25 E per week, but 30 or 35 if i need it. I think it is easily do able, now that i have all the big buys out of the way.

I will find my way...

Well today was a better day. After class, which is starting to get frustration because people just cannot seem to get anything right. Sure, i make mistakes, but after doing it a few times i fix it. Most of my classmates just do get it! it could be a long month in there.
After class things got much better. I was debating working out today. the sun was hiding and it was chilly. After a few minutes of sitting inside i said screw it im going biking.
and that is exactly what i did, and very glad. I got out of the city right away this time, took the right turns to get to i know where i am. almost as soon i left Paderborn city limits the sun came out. it lit up everything quite nicely. the wind died and the bike trails and roads were dry. I found the trail we started on the other day and took that for a bit, made some turns here and there. then came across this nice view....

As you can see green here, white there. a bit strange.

After continuing for a bit i came across this, and followed it...if this was used by the romans or not i dont know, maybe?

An dem Römer Route.

After taking a few turns i ended up at the bottom of a smallish hill (id say just under a km long, not too steep). so of course i took that, and i ended up in the village picture earlier (the 1283 one). It had been 35 min so i turned around and made my way back, slightly differnt than the way out.
The bike trails are so nice. the are roads for cars too, but rarely used. so nice and quite. smooth and good scenery. just being out in the sun and light wind and not working to hard was very calming. made me like where i am for a bit. ive decided i do not like the big cities much (except the Altstaat or old city, thats just cool), because of all the cars and rushing and what comes with a city. Small town Germany is on the other hand really nice. people are nicer, scenery is nicer. just plain better i think. But biking today made me think that everything will work out just fine, no more worrying over the small things. who cares anyways, study abroad is basically just a long trip!

Thunder and snow??

That's right, thunder and snow. Today during a brief blizzard, it was thundering. and it did it more than once, so i know i am not just hearing things. long rolling booms just like a regular old thunderstorm, i did not even know that that could happen. The weather here is so strange, it has gone from clear blue sky to snow, or rain, or thunderclouds multiple times. The weather changes so fast its crazy, i dont know if it is normal or not. give it 5 minutes and the a clear blue sky will be totally gone.
Other then the weather life is normal. exactly one week here now. class was not to bad. Today i was able to hear the accents other people have in their german without any problem. some are really really strong, one girl from portugal instead of say hat(haat) says at. just strange.
also believe it or not i went running today. to crappy and cold to bike...when i started my run. during which the sun came out and the clouds cleared out. as soon as i got home the thunder came. but the run was pretty good to...amazing. my legs feel a bit strange though.
And tonight since i ate a massive plate of food at the Mensa (cafe) for lunch, i did what the real germans do and ate bread and sausage and cheese and jelly for dinner.
bis morgen!

i forgot!

I forgot to say that as soon as i got into my room the snow stopped, and the sun came out...the weather gods still hate me...

by the way.

uni = university

"Wo ist die Uni?"

beware. its a long post..
Well...the ride with the Germans today never happened. I talked to the "leader" this morning and he was going to call around and see if others wanted to go, then call me back. He never called back. So after way to much waiting I said screw it, ill figure out where i am.
Off i went, since i know how to get to the one guys house, and from there i though i knew how to get to the good biking area i did so, but i did not make it right to the good biking area...at first. The weather was nice (except wind) at this point. I ended up on a fairly busy road, which i took for about 20 minutes, then say a sign for Schloß Neuhaus. thinking hmm..a castle (Schloß) would be very fun to see i went that way. eventually i discovered that it is a city. im sure there is a castle somewhere in it, but no idea where. so i went back the same road. the way back to the main road was with the wind (which was pretty strong today! i did not know it was ever this way in Europe, i shoulda known there is a reason for the windmill farm a few miles away), so i rode quite quickly. a nice hard 4 or 5 km. Then i went back on the main road i took, and took the next promising looking way away from paderborn. It just so happened that this is the road i did that first ride on! YES! I took this rode for quite some time, passing by this sign i saw earlier...

no "former site of.." here. once its established it is here to stay. the number 1283 refers to the founding i believe.

after i took this picture i continued on this road cause i knew there was a fun, but short, downhill nearby. the next city was where it was.

this was actually taken on the way home, the light kinda sucked. on the way out it was quite nice.

After this i went straight thru that gap in the hills you can see. i am not exactly sure how far it was but a ways. There were some cool, really big stone train bridges that i saw, but the vantage point was not very good in terms of taking a picture. would not have been able to see much.
I got to the town of Altenbeck, and turned around. things started to go downhill from here...the wind, i had been going with it the whole time out, was now against me. lucky i think that it was slightly downhill the way back due to coming out of the hills. but still strong wind. I stoped to take the picture and looked where i had to go. the sky was really dark grey, not good when your on a bike at 4 30 in a forgien country, and you dont really know where you are...
after awhile i got back to the little town with the welcome sign from above. Then it started to hail, and hail hurts. a lot. without glasses i would have not been able to see at all and then forced to stop, yay for ebay! The head wind and forward movement i had really made the hail sting.
Eventually i got back to the main road, i noticed a bike path this time. i thought it would be good to take it....Big mistake.
It led me into some massive maze of apartment complexes that i still cant figure out where it is. Luckily the hail was done, but it was snowing. so i rode through it for about 10 or 15 minutes and finally gave up guessing where to go and asked "wo ist die Uni" the first people i asked had to think for a bit. but told me at least the proper direction to go. Then it REALLY started to snow. huge really wet flakes, so wet that they stuck to my glasses lenes. and the roads quickly got wet and a bit slippery. Not only was this bad, but now i could not see more than 100 meters. I was trying to find the uni by looking for it in the distance. did not work. at all. so i stopped and asked again, and little did i know i had blindly taken the right turns and ended up about 500 meters from the uni. talk about luck.

a snowy bike and i.
so thus my ride came to a close. it ended up being only 2 hours, but felt like much more. 44.79 Km. Oh i forgot to mention. I had only one water bottle and got really hungry due to my early lunching. nearly bonked. I think that even sean might consider this an epic ride...( http://snoonan.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_snoonan_archive.html ) "what is epic"
thats my day...

to get a kid to wear a helmet.

simply show them this picture....

"a helmet helps, before we must."

frosted flakes, sun, and a few more things...

first off i am going to comment on the food. i dont know if it just because it is in Euros and i think the exchange rate is better than it is, or i dont know any prices of food at home, or if the food here is just cheap. but ill say its the last one. cheap and good. yesterday i went to the grocery store again and had shopping basket (regular size) over flowing with food, i though for sure it will be over 20 E. nope. 12.13 very amazed. 0.79 for 6 apples? is that cheap or not? the apples are good by the way.
but anyway these frosted flakes are awsome. 1/3 the sugar so my teeth dont hurt while i eat them.


frosties!


also the yogurt is really good. and i decided since i like it i might as well buy alot. so instead of a little cup that costs .33 id get the 1000g jug for 1.45. and it lasts till the 27th! perfect!


and everyday i see this sign for bike repair on campus but took a picture today...

the sun...
the sun is finally out today, that is very good, makes it warmer and just plain better to be up and about when the sun is shining. Next i wanted to rub it in to seans face that i will be able to bike everyday, not only bike but with people who are fast. while he has to run. HA!
oh and the ride details from yesterday...
66.53 km
2hrs 33 min.
avg HR 139.
exact route...i have no idea. i think around the city. we went out one side and came in the other.

finally. for those of you who know people abroad, and want actually speak with them (or me) get Skype. www.skype.com
it is free international calling over the internet. my "screenname" is jakeboyce. remember the time difference is 7 hours...

YESS!!!!!

biking was a huge success. The guys are really quite cool. one guy, which i talked to the most is apparently pretty fast. if i heard right he will be doing the german national mt. bike race in april. He also said (i think) that he and some friends got second in the french ironman (or german) triathalon. he also said he is a guide for mt. biking around the mediteranien. and that he did 15,000 km last year. and ill just keep going....his training bike was titanium with campy record. training bike!!! he said he trains 15 or so hours a week which is just perfect! i hope i can keep up with that! and hes got the life. does school in the fall/winter and takes the spring/summer off to bike. the perfect balance.
by the way each time a guy pulled into the driveway they all said wow to my bike! wooot! Then of course while i was talking to the guy he said it was great how the bikes quality is hidden because of the subtle paint job. exactly what i am aiming for.
I took a picture, and was going to take more, but my hands got to cold to take any more...its not that good but its a picture!



the guy in red is the one mentioned above...

also they were all very surprised that i am 19. I was a bit dissapointed when i was told we wouldnt be going to the hills because the snow makes it difficult. bah. just base for now i guess. i cool with that too. any biking is wonderful.
well now i am part of the bike group here which is great. tomorrow i might be going for a little while but they were unsure. but sunday they are going for sure for a good 3 or 4 hours...horray!
im sure ill think of something more i want to put on soon. soo check back later i guess

a cell phone and class

yesterday i got a cell phone. prepaid and the works. a nice cheap one at that 33 euros for the phone and 10 euros worth of talking. i also got 30 more euros of talking which brought the price per minute down to 0.19 woot. (down from .39). but now that i have a cell phone it doesnt mean i can talk to anyone from home. to expensive...
today i had my first day of class. i got the intermediate level just as expected. people with as much as experience as 11 years of german to little as 6 months are in it. people from finland, canada, italy, hungry, poland, etc...
class went from 10 to 12 45 so it got a bit long at the end. and we have it from 8 30 to 10 30 and then from 11 to 12 45 on monday/tuesday. but not sure for the rest of the days, becuase we have a differnet teacher...figure that one out.
but lots of class..blah! at least i have something to do then!
But now i go for a bike ride with some germans..wooot. biking!!!
ill tell you all about it later...

the test and more

Today was the placement test. I was surprised at how far i got before it got to hard for me. I believe i am to be placed in the middle level, which will be perfect. not to much work not to little, hopefully plenty of time to bike! I then ate lunch with some people that i met yesterday. one guy also from olaf, named Karl and a guy from st. thomas named connor. Later some others joined us, one from olaf, canada, finland. and now we are about to go shopping, maybe i will get a cell phone.
i got some sheets for my bed finally, no more sleeping bag.


nice orange sheets

class starts tomorrow so i will have something to do. or not. we will see!

address

I figured out my address. It is

Jake Boyce c.o. Wang
Peter-Hille-Weg 11/D-2.1
33098 Paderborn ?(Germany)?

anne to ann...

Yesterday I left my "tour guide" anne in heidelberg and met my tour guide ann and the trainstation in Paderborn. The train ride was 4 hours long, and without my iPod was pretty boring. oh well what can ya do...getting the bike and luggage on the first train was not a hassle because the train car was built for bike, very nice...



bike car


Once i got here we (ann the tour guide) and i found my room, and got the keys and all that. here is a picture of the room, it is pretty small but i dont need a whole lot of space, and i have my own bathroom and shower which will be nice. The kitchen is next door and kinda dirty even though no one else is using it at this time. Since it is in between semesters right now there are not a whole lot of people on campus, thus i think i am the only one living on my floor...kinda lonely. i thought i heard someone this morning, but it turned out to be the cleaning lady.



yesterday after getting my room, we went around to different places at the uni. the one thing that did not get done was to get my sheets and blankets and such for the bed, luckly i had a sleeping bag.

I lucked out, ann the tour guides boyfriend just happens to be a biker. and he and some friends go on fridays. I talked with him today at lunch and he said they did more mt biking but go on the roads often as well. hopefully they are fast so i have to try and keep up. more fun that way. but i dont know if i will bike between now and then just cause i dont know my way around and Paderborn is not a small city (135 000). i dont really want to get lost.
i found a web cam of it http://towercam.uni-paderborn.de/ if you look below the main picture there is a strip on which you can click. look for the smoke stack on the leftish side, click about an inch to the right of that and you can see my apartment, it is more right of the other building that looks the same as it.

and finally, i think that the snow gods dislike me. everywhere i go the snow seems to follow, there was about an inch in heidelberg in the morning when i left, and it has been snowing the whole time since getting to paderborn. The gods are saying no bike for jake...
time to go to the reception for austauschschulers!