Real Quick

Back in Tübingen.
I may change the blog header and colors soon. The approaching spring seems to demand something a little more cheerful than the current layout.
Tomorrow is franctially-finish-the-paper day. All day. Here goes nothing.

The (Un)romantic Rhine

We're in the Rhine area now, in a small town called Bacharach. I stayed here with my aunt during our trip to Europe in 2001 and the town hasn't changed a bit. We are staying in an old, creaky, and freezing cold hotel with a big 1,000 year old tower. The grandparents have been on a boat tour most of the afternoon and I, having 'been there, done that' as far as the Rhine area goes, have been here at the hotel frantically working on my paper. The fact that my only access to the internet is this pathetically slow (windows) computer in the lobby is not helping. Research is impossible, and this is not only adding to my stress level but will very likely result in an early return to Tübingen tomorrow.

Here Goes Nothing

Well, I've decided to go for it and retake the final exam and finish the paper. For reason last night I got a surge of confidence and emailed the prof to the affirmative. I hope I survive.

Traveling with Grandparents Rocks

Okay, new update because this is way too cool not to update about. So we just had dinner downstairs in the hotel restaurant. My grandparents had filet mignon with a dessert of creme brulee and I had a wonderful free-range chicken that was just incredible with a dessert of key lime pie that finally defined the word "orgasmic" for me.

Then we went to the concierge to ask them if they could direct us to a car rental company in the area for our departure on Saturday (we are driving instead of going with the train). Not only did they recommend one -- they CALLED for us and got it all set up. And guess what we're driving to Hannover in?

A Mercedes C-Class, baby. Oh yeaaaaaaaaaah.
Including a GPS navigation system.

And now I sit here in this enormous room looking out these floor-to-ceiling windows at the beautiful nighttime skyline of Berlin.

I love this city!

Money Does, In Fact, Buy Happiness (Or At Least A Better Hotel Room)

So did I mention that my grandparents and I moved hotels? We're no longer in the dinky hotel way out in Berlin's boonies. We are now staying in -- get ready for this -- the Mariott hotel on POTSDAMER PLATZ. Freaking Potsdamer Platz! You can't GET much more central than that. It has been a looooooooong time since I've been in a hotel this nice (employees keep saying "Guten Tag" as we pass in the hall). check out my room:

Yeah, that's my room. As in, only mine. I have two double beds. I'm totally blown away.

But that's not the best part. From our 10th-floor rooms we have this view:



It seems that money does, in fact, buy happiness. Or at least a better hotel. We are SO much more comfortable here and of course we're on top of the subway station, so getting around is a snap. Lovin' it! This afternoon my grandparents took a bus tour around Berlin while I just sort of wandered...I've seen the city and all the sites so I just wanted to sort of get lost. Ended up at Alexanderplatz and also the Starbucks at Hackescher Höfe.

Grueße aus Berlin

Bad day. Not totally bad day, because it's been cool to show my grandparents around Berlin a bit, but bad enough. I guess I should start at the beginning though. So my grandparents and I have been on the road since Monday, we hit up Nürnberg for a couple of days and now we have just finished our first day in Germany's wonderful capital. This is my 3rd time back to Berlin and I love the city more each time. It was sort of an unorganized day, we arrived at 2pm and checked into our crappy hotel which was WAY too far from the U-bahn station (which is why we're changing hotels to the far-nicer and far-more-central Marriott on the Gendarmenmarkt tomorrow). After that we hit up Unter den Linden to see Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. Not much seen today but that's why we're here for another 2 full days.

So as you all know I've been working feverishly on this term paper for my EU policy class. 6 pages minimum on the EU's regional policy. I spent all 5 hours on the train to Berlin today typing that paper (in German) and got 4 pages written, including all the footnotes done. I was so proud of my productivity and for the first time was starting to relax a bit about the whole thing. You know that wonderful feeling you get when you know you've made some really great headway on a paper?

So after all our sightseeing today I finally got back online for the first time since Sunday night and checked my email. There was an email from my EU policy professor with the subject line, "Final Exam." The email was short and to the point.

You did not pass the final exam. If you wish to retake it, you may do so on April 20 at blah blah blah (I stopped reading here).

For those of you unfamiliar with the German educational system, I need BOTH the final exam and the term paper to receive a grade and credit for the class at ASU. Without that final exam, the paper is worth nothing. There is no chance of me passing the retake, since I'm getting back to Tübingen on the 13th from this trip and that leaves me only 7 days to prepare. For perspective, I spent over 3 weeks studying for the final the FIRST time around and I STILL didn't pass.

So this means no credits for European Union Policy and that the paper I've been slaving away on for 3 weeks is worthless.

I suppose that the silver lining to this cloud is that I no longer have to worry about writing the paper and that I am officially on my real semester break now. That, and I am now a totally unnecessary expert on regional policy in the EU.

If anyone needs me, I'll be at Pariser Strasse 40 in a dinky little hotel room lying on my bed with my iPod firmly planted in my ears and the soothing sounds of Coldplay swimming through my brain.

Oh Man

So the grandparents are in town for the next two weeks for their visit. Good times, it's been fun to show them around Tübingen the past couple of days. Tomorrow we are off on our 10-day tour of Germany. Paper: still not written. Outline: half written. Why am I so freaking tired? At 4pm today I was ready to collapse right on the floor. I can't remember the last time I was that tired at that time of the day! Back to laundry, packing, and maybe some paper-writing if the paper fairy shows up.