So, my new friend Lisa Marie was telling me the other day, "This place is like Neverland. You'll try to tell people about it back home - but no one will quite believe you or understand." I am setting out to prove she's wrong! These last several days have been amazing, which is the usual condition of my days since I've been here. I went to Munich a couple days ago with Alex, my fellow newbie friend (we were on the same plane here). Oh man. The architecture! The beer! The pork knuckle! Oh yes. And the white sausage. Shudder. Hey, at least I tried it. I have started work at the Edelweiss Lodge, which was interesting, because I had no idea how to get there. The thing about Garmisch is that the streets follow no rhyme or reason - there are alleys that go nowhere, roads that end up in some weird outdoor bistro, etc. I got lost several times but managed to figure it out. In fact, some of my new friends decided to take me to the ghetto area of Garmisch. That ended up being a street with a whole bunch of barns with cattle - not exactly the housing projects of Chicago. I was a little scared though. Probably won't go cow tippin' in THAT part of town. The coffee here is ri-donk-ulous. They brew it like espresso and it has a wonderful creme on top. However, nothing in Germany is free (they charge 10 cents for shopping carts in the grocery store!) so that means there are no refills on coffee. Arrrrgh. Another thing I've learned is that if you try to order "wasser" (water) in a restaurant, they give you sparkling mineral water. It's very expensive and I hate it! If I taste carbonation, I expect to also taste flavor with it. What else? Work is very good, I really like it. My boss is named Eithne (pronounced "eth-na," she's extremely Irish). She has a pretty rosie-cheeked face, dark curls and talks a mile a minute in a thick brogue. I do a lot of smiling and nodding when she's around. Everyone here is so interesting! I've met so many different people - I think because my policy here has been to say yes to everything and then deal with it later. "Hey, want to get coffee and sit outside in the Marienplatz?" "Yes!" "Mandy, wanna go suicidal sledding?" "Sure!" I haven't done that yet, but I probably will on Friday. Don't worry, Mom!
Prost~
