Up, up and away!

So, endlich ist es so weit!

This time tomorrow, I'll be in the airport, getting ready to board my plane. And thus begins a six-week adventure into the great unknown! Okay, "unknown" doesn't exactly fit. I'll be going to Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria and Belgium. Only two of those are completely new to me. However, nearly every city I'll be staying in is a city I've never visited before. That is the goal of this trip. Though I have lived in Germany for a total of two years, but I never really was able to explore the country on my own terms. Now's my chance!

I can't promise I will be able to post regularly while I'm traveling, but I hope to be able to post about my journey when I'm home again. We'll have to wait and see, I guess. I'm not too known for keeping my blog-related promises... :-D

Bis dann!

Oops I did it Again...

Well, not only do I suck at posting regularly, but I also apparently suck at posting in general. This is "Jaymee's Germany Journal". So, one would think I'd make a point of posting about it whenever something Germany-related happens in my life, right? Wrong. I failed to mention one of my closest friends from Germany coming to visit me. Someone revoke my blog privileges, please...

Anyway, Jana (who has a blog of her own - be warned, it's in German) stayed at my house for two weeks in April. She is finishing up a work-and-travel year in Canada, and had a number of places this side of the border to visit. One of those places just happened to be my house (proximity to Chicago helped).

For two weeks, she tagged along with me to work (since I couldn't really take two weeks off), and on the weekends, we visited Milwaukee, among other things. We had a lot of fun together, and it was great for me to finally be able to blend my two worlds, in a way. In just a few short weeks, I'll be able to do something similar, but in reverse. It's going to be so much fun!

One thing I regret about Jana's visit is the fact we seemed to fail at taking a picture of the two of us together. This is the only one we have to actually prove she was there!

EDIT: There are more pictures!!! I don't know how I forgot that we took these, but I visited a Dave and Buster's with Jana and another friend. So, of course, we had to do the crazy photo booth there. I just hope neither of them kill me for uploading this! :D

Aren't we cute?!?! :D

Whoops...

Hey all! Guess who has two thumbs and sucks at keeping to a schedule? This girl! Sorry...

Anyway, things have been going well. I've been pretty busy the last few months with work and my personal life. My trip to Europe (well, mostly Germany) is coming up in just over a month to the date. Which is really exciting.

Actually, did I even mention my trip before now? In case I haven't, here's the gist of what I've got planned.

On May 20th, I'll be flying out with a friend for Denmark (to visit another friend). After a few days with her, we'll be traveling down to northern Germany and then over to Amsterdam. At the beginning of June, we'll head to Munich to pick up my boyfriend from the airport. About a week later, my friend will head home, and my boyfriend and I will explore together for another week. Once he heads back home, I'll be going to parts of Germany I've never been before as well as Belgium (budget permitting). I'll be ending my adventure back in Hamburg. All told, I'll be spending about six weeks across the pond.

I am really looking forward to my next great European adventure, but I've still got a lot to do before then! (Which I'll talk about later.) I just wanted to stop in and let you all ('cause I've got so many readers put there) know I haven't forgotten about my blog!

Bis bald!

Witzige/Wichtige Worte on Wednesday XIII: Was heißt...?

Was heißt...?: "What is called...?"; How do you say... (in German/English/whatever-other-language)?

The above translation is what I would consider the "traditional" translation. This is, however, another way to use this phrase, and it's something I seem to continue to think/say to myself all the time. It can be used in a sort of rhetorical manner to express that an adjective is a little excessive or not quite the right word. Let me explain.

Let's say you're talking to a friend about someone eating your lunch from the employee refrigerator at work (that's a very specific example, I know...). That conversation might go a little something like this:

Friend: Waaas? Wie dreist! Du warst bestimmt mega angepisst!
You: Naja, was heißt angepisst? Ich war einfach ein bisschen genervt, weil ich dann mir etwas von der Kantine holen musste. Und das Essen dort schmeckt einfach nicht so gut...

Friend: Whaaat? How rude! I bet you were pissed off!
You: Well, I wouldn't say 'pissed off'. I was just a little annoyed, because then I had to buy something from the cafeteria, and the food there just doesn't taste as good...

I hope that made sense!
Bis bald!

Witzige/Wichtige Worte on Wednesday XII: Sonst

sonst: "else", "otherwise", "or else"

Here is another super versatile word. Like na, it can be paired with a variety of other words to change its meaning.

Und sonst so? - How's it going otherwise? (Good to use after a friend tells you about a bad experience they had recently - you should, of course, console them first.)
umsonst - free of charge, in vain (I got these cookies umsonst for volunteering at the blood drive! I drove all the way back home umsonst because my phone ended up being in my car the whole time!)
sonst wo - elsewhere
Sonst noch etwas? - Anything else? (Usually a question posed by wait staff.)
Was sonst noch? - What next? (Here, it takes a kind of exasperated tone.)
Wer denn sonst? - Who else? (Typically rhetorical: I mean, she gave birth to me! Are you talking about your mom? Wer denn sonst?)

I hope this helps you know how to use this highly recurring word!

Bis bald!