Poland

16:00, 4.April, 2012 - I'm leaving for Krakau Poland this Friday. My trip begins with a ride from a friend to St. Gallen in Switerland in the evening. From there two girls and I will ride at 21:00 with Michael Giemek, who has kindly offered to share to road with us for 45CHF or about 37.38 euros. There's a really great website that help people find road shares  http://www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de. In Krakau I will be staying at a friend of one of these two girls' house. Come Monday (Easter Monday) we will try to find a ride back. I may come back on the 8th since the same guy comes back then and 45CHF is a great deal. Otherwise, I could end up taking a train which would be slow. Oh yes, Michael drives an Audi A6 and with a top speed over 200km/h and no speed limit it should be a quick juant.

All the while, as ever, this marathon weighs heavily on my mind. Thus I must train while I'm there. Just take a look at the beautiful city of Krakau. It will be a pleasure to run there.

Language Course and Orientation At an End, Holidays Begin

There is undoubtedly a big gap between this post and my previous one. The reason is that I ran out of room on google to upload pictures. Google has let me down in this respect, and wants me to pay $5 per year to have access to more room. I have decided that I will upload photos to another place and link them here to this blog. This means that my blogs will require you to visit two websites instead of one. I will also move all the extra photos in the photo repository over to this new place.

I got a 2.7 in my language course. 1 is the best 5 is fail. I have visited Freiburg briefly and I find Konstanz to be a prettier place. Freiburg is very attractive too but I like the location of Konstanz better. I toured a beer brewery in the black forest. Fürstenburg is both a place in Germany where great beer is brewed, and a place in my heart because of the first. It was simply amazing to see the process from start to finish of the production of beer. Beer is extremely important. Without it we would have civilization, no arguing that point. It kindled a little remembrance of my hobby back in Canada of brewing and distilling spirits. The great copper vats were a sparkeling beauty in the late afternoon light, which filtered in through the old factory windows. Later we went deep into the earth down hundreds of stairs to where the fermentation takes place. Afterwards we were invited to eat and drink in the beer hall. At this point we were offered as much beer as we could drink. I tried every variety at least twice. I settled in the end on dunkel Weizen as my favourite, followed closely by the hell Weizen. The Pils was also great but a tad too bitter after the second glass. For food we were served buttered pretzels though only one. I had to buy a pizza afterward for teh trainride home. It was delicious and only 5 Euros.

I visited the Insel Mainau which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Bodensee. There I visited a Schmetterlingshaus (Butterfly Conserve). Also the island is full of flowers and massive trees. This is part of the reason it is a World Heritage Site. I found a tree that took 5 people to hug.

I have spent considerable time preparing for the marathon, and indeed now that is all that is on my mind. It takes place in a little less than two weeks. By now I should be in perfect shape and be doing 25km+ runs weekly. The truth is that I feel ill prepared. I will stop running on the 12th after a medium run and begin eating. I know that the only thing that will get me through the race is determination.

I am not doing any long trips for the easter holidays outside of visiting Vienna for the Marathon. Many people are going to Ceska Republika, or Italy, France, and Spain but I will stay here. Perhaps I can visit Heidelberg or something. I have buy a ticket for all of Baden-Württemberg for only 37Euros for 5 people. Or better yet me and 4 others can visit anywhere in Germany for 40 Euros on the weekend. Thus I could visit Berlin this coming weekend.

My worms for my worm farm should arrive in about 2 days. I'm excited because they will be my stay-at-home factory workers who provide the supplies for my guerrilla garden invasion. I have taken to buying canned tomatoes not only because they are cheaper but because they leave me with a pot in which I can plant tomatoes, beans, zucchini, watermelon, and sunflowers in the worm castings. I can then set these pots up throughout the city and hopefully come late summer people will be forced to pluck tomatoes from these cans. There you go Jacob! I will also plant things in the ground but these are more portable.

I found more decoration for my room. It now somewhat resembles an Iranian Hooka Lounge.

I tried longboarding! I had to wear flip flops but it was still fun! I'll try to find some cheap shoes so I don't ruin my nice Italian leather sandals.

All in all I am very happy and there's so much I haven't told you. It would just take too long, and sometimes its the small insignificant things that are the coolest. Such as, I spent a warm twilight sitting in the grass by the River Rhein watching the starts come out. I watched their reflections form in the unusually smooth river, then went to visit a friend and had a good time there! The small things. But also, I'd like to keep some stories secret so that when we chance upon one another and you ask me, "So how was Germany!?", I won't just say "Read my blog!". Rather, I will tell you of how I got lost, how I got free fruit from a woman, how I visited castles, and about how people see me naked on a daily basis.

Language Course and Orientation, teil II

Part II


09:18, Freitag, 16 Maerz, 2012 - I'm sitting here at my desk listening to music. My room is a mess. I have laundry, dishes, and tidying to do. Today I don't have class; none until Montag! There's been a slew of events over the past two weeks. Mostly, I've just been getting to know the place. I've got a bank account, I've been registered with the town  (almost) and soon I should have a visa. Soon after I have those two things I should be able to matriculate to the University of Konstanz. German is certainly nothing if not a totally bureaucratic place.

My grasp of German is stronger than ever! It's all organic in its development. It's cool. I just had an easy language test yesterday.

I'm trying to limit my spending however I recently just purchased a Garmin 910XT with heartmeter and footsensor. It arrives in hopefully less than 4 days. The price tag on such a thing is not cheap. Somewhere between tophat and guitar. Can't wait to train with it! Today and tomorrow are 16km runs, a day break with stretching and icing, and then 20km runs. After this marathon I'm going to working on building muscle again. Personal fitness goals are important to have!

The weather is sunny and about 19! It's feeling very spring like. Time to air out your houses and throw away winter junk. Just throw it in the infinitely deep landfill down the road. Shame on you, you dirty scoundrel! Buy less, reuse more!

Will put pics up later.

20:01, Freitag, 16 Maerz, 2012 - I 've been wanting to do this all day, calculate my speed of my run. 17.432km in 1hour 30minutes. Including the water break halfway through at home. That gives a nice pace of 5:09minutes per km or a Marathon in 3 hours 36 minutes! I hope I can run that pace the whole time. I could do better if I had regular rehydrating every 15 minute as will be the case during the Marathon. Tomorrow I go to Freiburg. Now I go to a party and try not to drink too much. Or at least equal parts water to alcohol to stay fresh.

Pub Crawl

18:34, Mittwoch, 7 Maerz, 2012 - Konstanz is a conservative town. That is, conservative for an 80% student, German, beer-brewing town. It full of old and new culture brought by buildings and young people respectivly. Tonight I will meet hopfully a lot of young people out front a fountain in the old town at 19:30. That means I need to shower, as I just got back from a run, dress, catch a bus.  I'll also grab a beer from a store on the way since I'd rather pay 0.33 euros for the initial buzz rather than 2.50 which a normal beer costs in pubs. Bye, I'll try to grab a few pics.

00:13, Donnerstag, 8 Maerz, 2012 - See made it home safe and early dispite taking a gigantic detour and a long walk. Luckily Konstanz isn't too big. Full moon helped light the path and give me a sense of direction in twirling European streets. Got pictures and will post.

Language Course and Orientation, teil I

Part I

Me and some Frauen who are also doing language/orientation. 

The map of Uni Konstanz. It's a total labrynth! Full of
twisting stairs and halls. Much like European towns.

17:46, Montag, 5 Maerz, 2012 - The first day of language course and orientation arrives and I'm nervous. Things are about to cost a lot as I pay fees and register for various things. I still need an alarm clock. The phone I am borrowing from Oskar won't work until I get a SIM card in it. Speaking of which, I should go for a walk to Kaufland and get that done now. I will choose the 9.99 euro per month plan with O2. With that comes 200 minutes to any deutsch network, 150 texts, 50 MB, and free calling to any other O2 phone. Extra texts are 0.09 euros and extra minutes are 0.25 euros. It is an unwritten agreement that all students use O2 so that calling is free here. I like that. Anyway 9.99 is fiddlesticks compared to Canada.

A view from Mensa (cafeteria) window. Food sucks, but
view rocks!

About my money woes: Waking up I was nervous. Arriving late because of my alarm, albeit with Oskar and Jowalkheim, I was nervous. When a man stood up and said that here was here to distribute Stipendiums I was anxious. A Stipendium is a scholarship. When he called my name I was super happy! 2000 euros! Suddenly, worries becames foolish things of the past. I hate money and how it can twist the mind. If only freedom and happiness were free. Well it seems in Germany these things are closer to free than most place. Vielen Dank Baden-Wuerttemberg Stipendium Fund! Ich lieb dich!

I needed the walk home. Time to take it all in.

I also found on my way home from the orientation two flower pots and some decorations for my room.

I'll explain what happened during orientation later. Now I must leave you and return beer cans for a deposit which should pay for my SIM card.

Tschuss,

07:10, Tuesday, 6 Maerz, 2012 - After making my way to Kaufland last night, where at I found O2 is only open 09:00 to 19:00, I figured out how to return my beer can deposit and used the cash to buy food. Watermelon from Costa Rica was only 1.29 euros per kilogram. It's an unusual comparison to Canadian dollars per pound which is how most things are stupidly advertised in Canada. We use metric! The comparison is (1.33CAN/EUR)/(2.2lb/kg)x(EUR/kg) = 0.60CAN/lb. So that watermelon from Costa Rica is costing me 0.774 Canadian dollars per pound. Can someone clarify if this is a good price back in Canada. Also, for red peppers.

So with still no SIM and thus no alarm I came home. I was greeted by Oskar and Jowalkheim. We went to another persons place to pre-drink and then out to several bars in the Altstadt. Many were smoke filled. When we came to the last one I did not feel like buying a beer. The old man who ran the place gave me one for free. I humbly accepted. I am thinking that I will writing him a thank you card and buy him some flowers. He had fresh flowers at every table. It was quite empty last night in most of the bars. Funny for a Montag (Monday) night. Most patrons were old white haired men wearing nice clothing, chattering amonst themselves, and watching the German female fussball (soccer) team kick Sweden's ass. Oskar and Jowalkheim cared not that their fellow Swedish girls were getting tromped.

So this morning I allowed myself to rise naturally and here I find myself at a nice and early start. I was a tad worried as I fell asleep since I had drank so much beer.

Today I can expect some of what I did yesterday: form filling (immigration, school registration, random no purpose papers, eye color, height, how often I think strange thought,...ect). The Germans love bureaucracy just as much as Hermes! It makes me laugh outside, though I cringe inside at the mountain of paper I have to fill in. However, today I expect that we will begin learning German at our respective levels. Yesterday we had all taken a placement test before the guided tour.

Not too much time here, must be there for 09:00 and I'd like to visit the garden first.

Auf den Strassen, Bei den Leute, und Im Garten

My favourite plant from today!

 On the streets, among the people, and in the garten.

I finally have a bed sheet! And a borrowed Kissen (pillow)
from Wiebke.

14:23, Sonntag, 4 Maerz, 2012 - As a general rule, one must explore to learn and so have I done. My german is even bordering on intelligent sounding. I'm sorry if what I write comes out in weird sentence structure. I'm thinking in german grammar now and it is peculiar.

Oskar and Jowalkheim from Sweden.
Good guys, I live near them.

Freitag (Friday) Oskar, Jowalkheim, and I travelled around Konstanz Aldstadt (Oldtown) and met a Frau (Woman) named Wiebke. We bought utensils and got coffee and walked along the harbour. It was beautiful though I sense that the summer will make it more beautiful.

Wiebke, Jowalkheim, Osakar, and I got coffee (Osakar also a Doener) 

and sat at the harbour to relax in the sun. 

Wiebke fell ice skating two weeks before. 

Yes, there was ice only two weeks back!

Later that night I visited a bar with the two Swedish guys, Wiebke, and her friend. Beers were 2.50 euros. Sehr teur (very expensive). I think I prefer buying them in store for 0.33 euros per 500ml can. I'm building a tiny collection beer cans and bottles. Each is worth about a 0.25 euro deposit. Yes, the beer can deposit is worth nearly as much as the beer within.

Vladmir (no picture of him)
and I walked much of Konstanz.

Then, yesterday, which was Samstag (Saturday), I met up with Vladmir, a guy I met on Thursday while looking for my residence. We covered a lot of ground of Konstanz on foot, finding Netto (a cheap grocery store), and Kaufland (a poor Walmart equivalent). We also made dinner together, Kaesespaetzle and beer: Made with Spaetzle (a type of egg noodle), ground beef, speisequark (greek yogurt), pesti sauce, onions, carrots, and garlic. It was good.

Some infected plants in the Garten.

Every night I've been going for a run in preparation for the Vienna Marathon on 15 April. The altitude in Vienna is roughly 500m. Here it is roughly 400m. In Toronto it is roughly 100m. I don't feel too much out of breath but I know it will impact my performance when it comes to running a full 42km in little over a month. I am trying to push my volume per run to about 20km at a steady pace of 12km/h and cadence of 180 strides per minute. I am pretty good at keeping the high cadence even on hill climbs (and there are plenty of hills in Konstanz!), but the 12km/h is tough to keep. My toe shoes naturally cause me to land on the balls of my feet instead of the heel and so my calves are getting super workouts. They are always sore so keeping 12km/h is difficult.

I received eine Fuerlung (a guided tour) from Birgit Albert.
She said I might be able to plant a plant in the green house,
though they are usually only for endangered species.

Today I made a trip to the Konstanz Botanical Garden. Therein I found lots of beautiful things. As an ambassador of the Occupy Gardens movement in Canada I am proud to say the Uni Konstanz Garten supports our cause and would like to learn more about what we are doing in Canada to propagate freedom of food and nature. If you'd like to learn about Occupy Gardens (a play of words on Occupy Wallstreet) visit the Toronto chapter's facebook page. Hopefully, I can set up a chapter here.

The Picture Repository is full of garden photos I took today.

Stephanie is pollenating vanilla because there are no bugs
or bees to do it for her. She's from Berlin.

Today and tonight: get ready for tomorrow, as I start language camp. 30 grulling days of German vocabulary and grammatic structure crammed into my skull. Seeing as it's worth a semester's credit back in Canada it should be difficult. Good news, I don't have to study, just go out and drink and talk to people :p

Also, tonight I won't eat 20minutes before running. My spleen felt like it was going to split open last night, and that would be messy!

You know what I see here Jacob? Soldiers lined up and nearly ready for battle come Fruehling (Spring)!

From Missing Baggage to Made It

This is a guitarboard. It consists of a gentley packed guitar with
extra blankets for protection and a longboard strapped to it.

14:26, Thursday, 1 Maerz, 2012 - If anyone wishes to find me I'm at (+47.681071,+9174841). That's a GPS coordinate and google maps can help you place that. I made it all in one piece and I have all my stuff that I packed. Having said that, last minute packing tends to make it easy to forget things and I can think of at least one thing I'd like to have. Hey look at my friend "die Maus"!

Die Maus! GruB dich, wie geht's!

The weather is beautiful, and Helsinki has some competition here. Things are beautiful here.

Mein Fruhstueck (my breakfast).

10:13, Freitag, 2 Maerz, 2012 - Today, like yesterday, the morning started off foggy with dew on the ground. I woke up at 0800 without an alarm, a good sign. First things, I made breakfast which consisted of Speisequark, a banana, cinnamon, and coffee for an appetizer and then pork steak and onions sauteed in brautwein, a type of cooking wine. It felt hearty. I bought these things yesterday afternoon. I'm taking every opportunity to practice my German, this blog aside, so I walked to an old part of town to get my groceries at nice local Lebenmittelsgeschaeft.

Das Lebensmittelgeschaeft (grocery store)!
Aktion = good price!

Much of my afternoon consisted of searching for haupthausen Teller, or general home dishes. Everywhere I looked either they didn't sell pots and pans or it was outrageously expensive. I ended up buying a pan for 17.99 euros, a mokka maker for 7.99 euros (espresso coffee beans for 3.99 euros), and plate and cup for 4.97 euros.

In the process I met two guys from Sweden, who don't know German very well either, and we had a grand time drinking beer and walking around the Altstadt (oldtown).

So altogether the last day has been great! Things weren't so smooth but one day before, when I left Canada.

British Airlines: So smooth even the babies sleep.

Let me take you back to Tuesday morning. I woke up around 0700, quite excited, yet still unpacked. As a student I naturally work better under last minute pressure so things started flying together, almost magically, at once. In the space of five hours I managed to write two letters to OSAP asking for more money, and reassuring them that I am indeed a poor student, I packed all my belongings, and reasoned out all my last minute affairs. Perspiring slightly, and confident in the completeness of my packing, I loaded myself, backpack, and guitarboard into the car.

Off we drove to the airport, und so fing mein Flueg nach Deutschland an (and so began my flight to Germany)! Arriving at the airport, a nice one and a half hours later, I open the trunk of the car only to realize that my suitcase is missing! All 31.8kg, gone!

Uh oh is right, Josh you fool!

Uh oh! Name calling almost broke amongst the family but keeping cool heads we made quick decisions. Dad's going home at once to get the bags. Can he make it there and back in two hours? Did I mention we had left the house a little later than we planned and arrived at the airport at 15:15, my flight being at 18:30. Anyway, dad left because all we could do was either try or give up.

Meanwhile, my mom and I made our way inside to talk to British Airlines. Long story short, we must have had some feng shui going for us because in the end I was able to squeeze my way onto the 21:20 flight, even though the flight was booked full. Ironically, it worked out for the best because leaving the house late I wouldn't have been able to go out for dinner with my parents one last time. Switching flights made this possible.

Cheers mom! See you in August!

British Airlines: I like their service and I'd fly again with them. Lots of leg room, food was on par with normal in-flight food, and they served drinks four times over the course of the flight. Das steht mir gut (That's good with me)! Layover was three hours in London and I finally arrived in Zurich ahead of schedule at 15:50, 29 Februar, 2012. Happy Leap year all! And happy birthday aunt Lisa!

Luggage arriving. Thanks so much dad. It would suck to
miss Germany. Actually, I pretty much had all the necessities
for life with me. Guitar and music would have provided.

After landing in Zurich (spelled Zuerich in German), I got my true backpack out of my luggage and swapped it for the school bag I had used for carry on. I visited the info desk and got my first taste of the local dialect. I was schocked to find that my one and a half years of German class was nearly useless when faced with this accent. Their words seemed to be spaced differently and they made sounds for letters that weren't there! I think the long air travel and lack of sleep made things worse.

Train to Konstanz fro Zurich.
Utilizing reflection.

I pondered my options: stay in a Jungenherberge (youth hostal) in Zurich, stay in a hotel closer to the airport, travel to Kreuzlingen to a B & B where the owners actually may be off skiing in the Alps, travel to a tiny village to a B & B owned by a friend of the information desk lady's friend, or just take the train to Konstanz and look for something there. The Jungenherberge in Zurich was farthest from the airport and would have been 45 CHF (Swissfranks), or about 38.5 euros, plus transportation. Hotels were at least 80 CHF, or 68 euros. Villages and B & B's would have been fun but I wasn't feeling it at the moment. I decided to just head to Konstanz and look around there. It was 20:00, 1 Maerz, 2012 at this point. FYI free wifi is hard to find here but McDonalds always supplies it free for about 30 minutes.

McBeer and energy bar.

Train to Konstanz from Zurich was 27 euros. I'm sure it would be cheaper if I got the fare as a student but the option wasn't there. Arriving in Konstanz I met some beautiful sights, der Bodensee (lake Constance) for one. It was warm and the sky was clear. Firstly, I awkwardly made my way over to McDonalds carrying about 50kg of cargo. There I enojyed a lovely McBeer for 2.70 euros, and energy bar. From the crowd I saw in there I think McDonalds is considered a hangout for students.

My and Lars before we part ways, for
now at least.

From there I found that I should take the line 4 Bus to a Jungenherberge. But the bus was taking much too long so I took a taxi costing 10 euros. Konstanz's Jungenherberge is very cool for many reasons. Firstly, it's a massive tower placed on a hill and from the top you can probably see hundred of kilometres. I got a room on the first floor however with a guy named Lars from Belgium. He bikes everywhere and currently he is heading to Austria to visit some friends. He had some awesome stories and after a fittful sleep (the energy bar was too energizing) I had a plentiful and wonderful breakfast: bread, nutella, oatmeal with fruit and chocolate, yogurt, coffee, fruit, cheese, and meat. I needed the bug meal as I now had to walk and try to locate my residence.

My guitarboard!

Konstanz is a hilly place. I must have walked up twenty hills on my journey. But going down was easy. That's right, I rode my guitar board down hills dragging my suitcase behind me. I startled quite a few healthy Germans who were out for a morning run or walk as I zoomed past luge style. Laughing the whole while of course!

After what felt like hours, though it was only one and a half, I found my room. And my friend die Maus. I waited around for the Hausmeister (Housemaster or guy who maintains order around the residence). And you know the rest: groceries, met some Swedes, went out for dinner and looked for cutlery. Did I mention that things are beautiful here?

Packing: Priorities, Planning, and Procedure

15:45, Sunday, 26 Februar - To put myself in context, so that I may better explain the difficulty of packing, I have a tendency to buy unique items from places I travel. Usually, what I buy are small things that are easily carried but there are occasions when I have bought ungainly, cumbersome, fragile things that must sometimes be worn on my person to get them home to safety. These things are great mementos but I plan on visiting many places and so if these delicate treasures become too many I will be in an expensive predicament come time to return home. Hence, I write this as both a way of sharing useful packing techniques and to help myself visualize what I should and should not bring.

To start, I have comprised a list of things I actually do need. High on the list is hygiene since I want to smell good when I meet new people. So teeth, skin, and hair stuff. Got it! Next, I must let you know that I hate clothing. I'd rather be naked. It just seems and feels so natural to observe and exist in my habitat just as I evolved to do, albeit I'm sure we started to wear clothes when the mischievous, biblical serpent whispered in our ear that naked people can have sex, the result of which could throw you out of paradise. Not much of a paradise at all then. Well if clothes have any connection to deities, spirits, totems, or providence who are anti-banging, an act which is a manifestation of love and peace, then I want nothing to do with said clothes. But sometimes it's cold... and regrettably I must shed my pride and wrap up in layers. At this point I humble myself to the realization that humans are simply genius for having discovered a method of making it through the iceages and making it this far; hey, they've even managed to make some clothing with sex appeal. Therefore, I'm bringing clothes with me!

As mentioned in this post I will be packing a rain coat, and camera. I'm a little nervous about the safety of my camera, a Nikon D40, with the amount of rough travelling I will do, so I will also be taking along an old, and much worn and abused, Nikon S210. That is the camera that brought you Astrophysics in India. Fear not though because the D40 is wearing armour and will be just fine. Yes, armour!

Now, other than these few things I have yet to decide what else stays and what goes. Let's group them by category: Musical Instruments; Shoes; School Paraphernalia; Things To Trade Europeans For Their Stuff.

Musical Instruments - A very important category, most definitely. What can I bring? I am flying with British Airways and they have no policy with musical instruments other than that they may take the place of one of my two baggage allowances, maybe. They state that they may accept oversized baggage and many instruments would fall into this category. I really want to bring my acoustic guitar, my Epiphone AJ to be exact. This is the same guitar that mysteriously obtained a crack on its body one night during a shindig at 63 Chartway. My only concern is that the -55C temperature in the luggage compartment might further damage my guitar, this time also damaging sound quality. If I can sneak it into carry-on I will, otherwise I will need to get creative in my packing. I might as well throw in some harmonicas. They should be safe with flight.

Shoes - Slightly less important but equally troublesome. Various adventures and climates call for different shoes but shoes are bulky and steal luggage real estate. Do I take fewer adventures? Or should I give up some of hygiene for hiking? I expect to walk and run pavement, dirt, and steep rocks (aka mountains), as well as cavort on the dance floor, and shuffle into classrooms. I'd like to do all these this as elegantly and efficiently as possible. For running in warm and dry climates I have these wonderful shoes with toe receptacles. They are light and flexible, and thus easy to fit. For casual shoes I'm going to have to mix classy with comfortable and go with my square toed Steve Maddens. For cold and wet climate shoes I have no answers as every option is clunky and single purposed, and neither elegant or efficient. What if I wear boots there and then use them to the point of being discardable? Then I can simply toss them and head home in the warm summer wearing sandals. Summer! I nearly forgot, I'll be bringing some flip-flops for the beach without hesitation; I'll put them with my toothbrush if I have to.

School Paraphernalia - Not that this isn't a necessity, but I think it's a tad bit less important. I'll bring a laptop, wishing I had a tablet, and that pretty much sums up things necessary for school. Coffee, being the other major player, is readily available in most countries at this point of globalization. I may bring a book or three but they are subject to harsher space limitations. I think I can pretty much sum up all the things I need to know with Albert Messiah's "Quantum Mechanics" and Wikipedia. Would a Kobo be useful?

Things To Trade Europeans For Their Stuff - As we all know, Europeans have a huge fetish for acquiring the last fashion trend in USA and maybe Canada. Thus, it almost makes financial sense to hit up Abercrombie, and Lululemon knowing that I can trade it for some fancy European shoes. No, what I place in this category is everything else that I bring and which maybe I can give it to people over there so that they will remember me.

So what category does my longboard fit into? I guess it makes sound, and music is sound, so maybe its a musical instrument. So here's my plan to increase the safety of my guitar and get my longboard there and back. I will stow to wheels of my board in my luggage, a small sacrifice of space, and duct tape the board to the case. Then, I'll wrap all that in a plastic bag and duct tape some more. Hopefully this reinforces the case and stops humidity from fluctuating too much. Even with this extra little bit of protection I'm still nervous about the safety of my guitar. Time will tell.

Also, I need to bring a kitchen knife, spatula, and I'll be eating with chopsticks and spoon. When I get there I'll buy a pot-pan (aka Wok), which I can eat out of, and some cups for drinking. Finally, I won't have a pile of dishes to do! I will probably buy a french press and kettle for coffee too. I bet that I will end up having a full kitchen set before I leave since I like to cook and bake.

On to the packing techniques, many of which I'm sure you're already familiar with. Of course this section depends on what luggage containers you have and what stuff you want to bring but here I can take you through a few pretty simple rules.

Roll your clothing. Not only is it super easy to do but it also forms a nice little baton for whacking rude people with. I wonder which country I will have to whack the most people in. I bet France or Finland. Something about "F..." countries. To form a clothing roll start by laying clothes flat and folding into a quadrilateral about three hands wide. Then roll it up nice and tight and stuff it into its place. Notice that the end result, when held in your hand, still has two hand widths protruding to whack rudelums with.

Compartmentalize your belongings. So keep your boxers separate from your briefs, if you swing both ways, and keep your sweaters from your jeans, and so on. Also keep heavy things on bottom away from light things, though it can be hard to say where the bottom is with the way to luggage handlers fling about ones bags. This is more of a convenience thing but helps if you do frequent travelling. I actually have these little clothing bags that serve this purpose. Really I use them to keep bed bugs out of my stuff while staying overnight in shady rooms.

If you haven't worn it in the last 6 months just leave it. I find that when I travel I tend to wear maybe two to three sets of clothing in cycles due to time constraints. I suppose this applies more to on-the-road travelling but even as I go to Germany and know that I will have a home base I still feel that I won't worry if I don't have an old favourite T-shirt to wear or loose fitting pair of jeans that once looked good. Besides I'll probably pick up a few things there.

What this really comes down to is:
- 5 or 6 pants (jeans, dress, cord, lounge)
- 5 or 6 shirts (undershirt, long sleeve, dress, polo)
- 2 or 3 sweaters
- 13 socks (according to shoes)
- 13 underwear (boxers, briefs, onesies)
- 2 or 3 shorts

That is for five months and if I take trips I will likely only bring 2 sets of clothing and an extra pair of socks and quick-dri fabric briefs. Note that two pairs of pant and shirt permutates to four unique sets of clothing. Having said that, I may actually bring more clothing as I have a secret weapon yet unrevealed.

Vacuum bags are amazing. Basically, suck the air out of your clothes and you end up with a little clothing nugget, that looks like a raisin, only half the original size. With this I could bring my whole wardrobe and indeed I did a test pack with all my clothing just to see. I'm going to have to use a large vacuum bag since the xtra-large and jumbo-sized are too big to fit in my suitcase. But I can still make all the clothes I need into the size of a pillow, albeit a 10kg pillow.

Besides these tips, remember that hollow things can be filled if you need more space.

11:29, Monday, 27 Februar - Today is two months until my birthday. I always resonate with the twenty-seventh of every month. Today I am going to get a hair cut. At the moment my hair is fifteen inches long and is pretty healthy. I know that many people like to get a fresh and dazzling new hair style just before taking a trip but I'm not so sure that's me. I'll just keep it to a trim and maybe have it gently layered.

The rest of my day is full of signing documents and arranging affairs. I also have to finally pack everything. I've said bye to everyone I could and now it's time to leave.

Prior to Departure

Porter airlines supplies free espresso and snacks in the
departure lobby.

13:00, Friday, 24 Februar 2012 - I am aboard a domestic plane heading from Ottawa to Toronto. There is turbulence. I leave for Germany on Tuesday. Just as I once before wrote of my travels in India, now I give to you an ongoing description of my travels in Germany. I will write of Europe, art, love, and my specific experiences. What am I expecting? Good food, beer, and people. I expect them to be very unique from country to country and even town to town. I am going with English and a basic grasp of German. I hope to return a champion of both languages and with an introduction to many more. I expect that expenses will build up exceedingly quickly and time will go swiftly at first and then slow down as the universal drag of school takes me. I am already preparing for the knowledge I must learn. I fear it is not enough. Time will tell.

Some inclusive food on plane:
wine, pita, salad, dark chocolate.
Clearly, they know me.

Presently, I have just said goodbye to a dear friend. It was the last time I shall see him before I leave for Germany. It was with a hint of sadness that our hands hugged one last time. Hand hugs are like high fives but the thumbs do a tiny hug at the end, as if to say "It was an honour". Hand hugs are just as good as full hugs. I gave him one of those too though. May we find ourselves in many more situations together in the future, sir.

There are several people that I wished to say goodbye to and yet whom fate conspired against me from seeing. One of these is Jacob who has given to me a task while I'm in Europe: to become a community garden liaison, spreading peace and equality and ideas. I will do my best.

There was stormy weather on the way back from
Ottawa.

The plane is beginning descent and I must hold these thoughts for later.

07:34, Saturday, 25 Februar 2012 - I am aboard a train travelling from Toronto to Woodstock where I will meet my mom and finally arrive at home. The sky is a bleak grey but as the sky gets brighter and brighter so too does my attitude towards life. I haven't had coffee today yet but sunshine always seems to do the trick. I am focused now on packing my bags for my looming journey ahead and I have gathered all my emotional baggage that I have here in Canada and will safely lock it away when I leave.

Ontario/Quebec border is there somewhere. Taken just as
we descend into Ottawa.

I think that it is best, for anyone who travels, to leave behind certain thoughts and memories that might hinder an open mind while abroad. One does not travel so that the world may learn from you. One travels to learn from the world. Things that one should bring, and which I will be bringing, are pens and paper to jot down thoughts, a rain jacket, and optionally, a camera, though I would love to take the chance to work on my drawing abilities.

For the record and for the opportunity of future direct comparison with European trains, here is a brief description of the Via Rail train experience in Canada. The train cars are somewhat spacious and have ample leg room. The over head compartments are large and store your goods well. There is a checked baggage service that allows you to take large parcels with you as you travel. The motion of the car is slightly bumpy with a constant swaying motion and occasional jarring jolts. The trains and stations are clean and well organised. Trains are rarely late. The availability of a train ticket is rather easy and the customer service is great.

Today I am riding an early morning train because last night I decided to stay in Toronto overnight. Thirty minutes before my boarding yesterday I called Via Rail and informed them that I needed to switch the ticket and voilà, they made the switch and I was granted an extra twelve hours with friends. I made good use of my time but it was all thanks to Via Rail's flexibility. On the negative side, the food is quite expensive with a paltry breakfast coming in at between $6.00 and $12.00 depending on your choice though I must say it is absolutely delightful to eat breakfast in the observation car; watch Canada stream by as you eat a muffin and yogurt. Overall Via Rail has earned my continued patronage and I really should become a points member.

Taking the train is still the most civilized method of travel to this day. Average time to travel between Toronto and Woodstock via car: 1.5 to 2 hours. Average time to travel via Via Rail: 1.5 to 1.75 hours. Cost to drive: at least $20. Cost to take the train: $27 to $30. Safety: I've never had a technical or otherwise ill situation in a train, with cars I'm up somewhere around a dozen in just the past few years.  It's not the time-delayed, baggage-losing, human-herding, constrained experience of flying. It's just as fast as a car, more scenic, nearly as inexpensive, and less of a hassle. Not to mention the history of the train is far more interesting.

A quick picture I was able to snap from the train of a
beautiful winter river.

The winter scene outside is in contradiction with the normal climate these days. Lately, the wind has begun to blow and the sky has begun to cry tears of snow. In the past month it has seemed more commonplace to find a brisk autumn breeze then a bitter winter cold as it should be. Perhaps it will linger forever and we will suffer this indecisive season until we leave the earth for space, finally, at last.

Last night I found that Tequila is not as bad as I once thought it. It might even be good. I still place dark strong beer and dry red wine at the forefront of my drinks of choice. Being in Germany will be good for my soul then as my favorite drink can become the first drink of the day. The history of beer is also amazing. Countless times more interesting than the automobile and it even supersedes the train.

The second, or perhaps third, pre-
departure espresso.

I am near to arriving now in Woodstock. As a final thought, I'd like to question how viable my lifestyle is for future continuity. Can I really live life to the fullest even as I age and grow slow. It's sad to think about and yet it's really a moot question to pose because I know that this lifestyle is today not the one I will want tomorrow. Nor will I grow slow if science is really all that it's cracked up to be. So the question really is, can I build resolve and never accept easy when faced with opportunity? The future will certainly rest on such decisions so I only hope I don't gamble away my desires for fancy imagination and impossible dreams, and rather realize some medium that strikes me just right.