Auf Wiedersehen, Deutschland

I have been in Germany for three months, but I have NO idea what this cartoon says.

It's midnight in Germany. I have a million and one things to do, but (go figure) I'm writting instead. It less than 16 hours I will say goodbye to Hohenfels. Three months. It's tough to believe, but tomorrow it's time to say goodbye to my students, goodbye to Ali & Sara and goodbye to Hohenfels. My experience has had its ups and downs, but make no mistake, I have been very blessed to have this opportunity.

Tomorrow after school, Ali, Sara, Mark and I are heading to Munich. We will enjoy one last night on the town until I head "home" (that was for you Ali).

I will be back in Kansas on May 13--mark your calendars. When I return I will blog about my family's visit, Rome, Garmisch and Greece/Ireland with Marisa. Feel free to check them out.

It's tough to believe that my time is up. I guess there is nothing left to say, but "Tschüss".

Amsterdam: Where Wooden Shoes are Still in Style...And a Reliable Form of Transportation!

Amsterdam. Just the word elicits all types of feelings and emotions. To most, the town is infamous for its lax laws and liberal policies, but when you look past those, you can see a beautiful town with some amazing history. I took a sick day on a Friday and headed to Nuremberg with Sara to grab a flight to Amsterdam.

We arrived at Amsterdam and immediately began soaking up the sun. It was only in the 50’s and partly sunny, but you would’ve thought it was a perfect day if you saw Sara and us. We headed to our (somewhat shady) hostel, checked in and immediately started touring the city. Sara’s school, Northern Arizona University, has student teachers all over Europe and we were going to spend the weekend with her friend, Dare O’Ravitz (or something like that). Originally, Sara only told me his name was “Dare”--Which I found hilarious and came up with approximately 713 jokes off the bat. Then I thought she said his name was “Dare O’Rabbits”. My head nearly exploded. My favorite joke? I’m glad you asked. Here it is: “Dare O’Rabbits? It sounds like a little girl's letter to her pet bunnies.” Say it aloud if you don’t get it, I’ll wait…

…waiting…

…waiting…

…waiting…And we’re back! Sorry about that, back to the story…

It was the opening round of the Men’s NCAA College Basketball Tournament and I mentioned to Sara that this was the first time I had missed a KU tournament game since, well, I couldn’t remember. She said we should try to find it on TV, I told her that that wouldn’t be necessary, we're in Amsterdam and should enjoy it. She suggested we find the game, she said it would be fun.

Well then, let’s go find the game!

We headed to an Irish Pub for some fish and chips (Friday in Lent) and got to talking with our bartender. He seemed like he knew a thing or two, so I thought I’d inquire about the game.

Me: Excuse me; do you know where we can watch the American College Basketball Championships?

Bartender: Hmm, well…. (Long pause). Yeah! You should go to Apollo Hall—it’s a huge place to watch basketball.

Me: Wow. That’s great. Can you tell us how to get there?

Bartender: I know which tram to take and which stop to get off at, but I’m not sure of the exact location.

Me: That’s okay, I’m sure we can find it.

We paid our tab and decided to enjoy a walk around the city before finding Apollo Hall. There are canals everywhere and architecture is breathtaking. Amsterdam is a beautiful city and on a Friday afternoon, during the first sunny day of the year, people were sitting outside of cafes and enjoying a drink. After a nice walk, Sara checked our watch and suggested we find Apollo Hall. What is it time? I hadn’t even noticed. We got on a tram and headed to our stop. When we got off the tram I went on a hunch (read: I didn’t care where we walked but I was going to find this place) and headed east. We walked a few blocks and realized the obvious: we had no idea where we were going. We noticed a travel agency and decided to stop in and ask for help. We were pleasantly surprised when a woman stopped what she was doing, searched for Apollo Hall (a place she’d heard of, but never gone to) and printed us a map off Google. Booyah!

We headed out the door and started the walk, which was only a few blocks. The sun was shining, I had a well-deserved day off school and I was getting watch my Jayhawks in the Netherlands. Life is good. We made it to the corner and saw Apollo written on a building, it looked like a nice hotel. Maybe there's a bar inside that shows a lot of basketball. However when we looked closer we realized it wasn’t the place we were looking for. We crossed the street and there it was: APOLLO HALL. We walked closer and then it hit me. Apollo Hall is not a sports bar...it’s a gym. The man had sent us to a gymnasium to watch 5th grade pickup basketball. Apparently, he thought the game was being played there. Great.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the help. However, can someone explain to me why anyone would think that the American College Basketball Championship would be played in the Amsterdam?

I can just picture the scene:

Coach: Men, I am proud of you. You defeated State and we are heading to the National Championship. There’s no time to celebrate, we have a plane to catch! To the Netherlands!!

We wandered the streets aimlessly, searching for a sports bar. I told Sara we could move on. It’s would be okay, but by this point she had to see this game. We finally found a bar that had ten sports channels, we even found an NBA game, but college basketball was nowhere to be found.

I rebounded (pun!) from that experience and enjoyed the rest of the weekend. On Saturday, the three of us went to the Van Gogh Museum. It contains a large collection of his paintings and we were lucky enough to be there when Starry Night was on loan (I beleive it’s normally at the MoMa in NYC). Afterwards we enjoyed lunch and the good weather in a park that sits behind the Van Gogh Museum. We ate lunch, threw a Frisbee, soaked up the sun for a few hours and had some fun with this sign.

We also had an opportunity to visit Anne Frank’s house. Anne Frank was born in Germany but fled to the Netherlands to avoid capture by the Nazis. Her family and the others who were in hiding with them were eventually captured. All that survived the war were her father and her diary. Her dad found the diary and had it published within a few years. The house is an amazing structure; it is still setup the way it was when they were in hiding. You take a self-tour through the home, which was also an office building that Mr. Frank signed over to a friend to avoid being caught. During the tour, you walk through the space where the Frank’s and four family friends hid. If you ever make it to Amsterdam this is a must see.

Here are some pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/MatthewArgubright/Amsterdam?authkey=Gv1sRgCKWouZ-3vfTRYg&feat=directlink

Well, my time is almost up. I’ll do my best to get another post or two before I take off on Friday…

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Friday marks my last day in Germany. Before I left, everyone told me that my time would flyby--and they were right. Three months have come and gone and it is time for me to return home. After school on Friday, I am jumping on a to Munich with Sara, Alison and Mark. We are going to hit up one of Munich's fine brauhauses (Such as Hofbräuhaus München) to celebrate the end of my student teaching. The next morning I fly to Greece where I am meeting up with Maria. We are spending a few days in Athens, then heading to the island of Mykonos (off the coast of Greece). After a few days in the sun we are off to Ireland. On May 13, Marisa heads to London to start five weeks of travel and I return to the Sunflower State.

I have been thinking about home a lot. I am very excited for my travel with Marisa, but I am also anxious to get back to the good ol' U. S. of A. I randomly started making a list of things I miss. Since you apparently have nothing better to do with your life than read this blog, I thought I'd share with you...

In no Paticular Order, Here are the Things I Miss (And yes, I know I’ve only been gone three months)

· The Kansas City Star Sports Page

· Marisa’s laugh—especially when she doesn’t want to find me funny

· My brother’s phone calls when he’s distracted—i.e. most of our phone calls

· My mom’s cooking

· Royals news

· Speaking in English when ordering in restaurants (as compared to my broken German)
· Country radio

· Heintzy’s stories—especially in text form

· Watching Zach Greinke pitch

· QT

· Driving
· My cell phone (I never thought I’d say that)

· Mexican Food (Margarita’s Restaurant, Chipotle, even Taco Bell)

· KC BBQ

That's the list. Want five minutes of your life back? Sorry.

To make it up to you, here are some pictures of my room and post: http://picasaweb.google.com/MatthewArgubright/Hohenfels02?authkey=Gv1sRgCMD41aPf68uvLQ&feat=directlink

There’s No Kangaroos in Austria

No, I didn’t come up with that, but it does make me laugh. I’ve made three trips to Austria so far: one with Sara and Alison to Vienna, one with Sara to Salzburg where we met up with my NET teammate, Becca and another trip to Salzburg with the fam.

When planning our trip to Vienna, our School Liaison Officer (the woman who connects the Army and the school) mentioned to us that we could stay with the United States Embassy in Vienna. What!? Yeah, sign us up. We found their website and you can rent an apartment—for a cheap price—and signed up immediately.

We left after school on a Friday afternoon taking an ICE train (top speed 200 kph) and headed to Vienna. We were meeting a member of the United States Air Force who would take us to our apartment. Sounds pretty cool, huh? Well, you know the phrase: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The officer took us to our apartment—about 20 minutes outside the city. Well, at least we had our own space and didn’t have to worry about theft or cleanliness in one of Vienna’s fine hostels (No offense to the many Austrians who peruse this blog).

Vienna was great. We saw the sun—which may sound like a small feat, but we hadn’t seen that ball of gas in about, well, how long have I been in Europe? Let’s just say I gave Europe a new catchphrase for their next tourism campaign. “Europe: Where Clouds Come to Die.” We spent most of our weekend enjoying the architecture and sights of Vienna. We went to an art museum and checked out a really cool exhibit on Mummies. I also had an opportunity to celebrate Mass at St. Stephens, a beautiful gothic church in the heart of one of the main districts of Vienna. Mass was in German until near the end when I had an epiphany and all of a sudden I understood exactly what the priest was saying. Apparently, he switched to English and it took me a moment to notice. Um, cancel that epiphany. My bad, I almost forgot for a moment...

Two weeks later, I returned to Österreich (this is how they spell Austria, which looks eerily similar to this). Sara and I headed to Salzburg meet up with my former NET teammate Becca. The trip hit a speed bump when our train was delayed over two hours in Munich (this is completely unheard of). After about the fourth German announcement that Sara and I didn’t understand we asked a young woman, Barbara, what was going on. She said that the train was not leaving and we could head to another train station if we would like. Great. “Follow me”, Barbara instructed and we sprinted off the train. We ran through the station and down to the subway, we didn’t have time to buy tickets and ran straight onto the next subway train. We took it for a few stops and ran through our second train station—only to be told that we had to wait for our original train. Perfect. Poor Becca had to wait two hours for us in the Salzburg Train Station. How did people survive without cell phones? (Editors note: That is approximately 90% sarcastic, 10% honest). We met up with Becca and spend the net 24 hours touring the town that is “The Home of The Sound of Music.” Don’t believe me? Check out this video of Sara in the park where they sang that one song from the movie (I've never actually seen the movie so that's the best description I can give you. Yes, I know, I have a way with words). She has no idea that I’m blogging about this, good times.

The highlight of the weekend (after seeing Becca of course) was our trip to the Augustiner. This is a brewery in Salzburg that was founded by monks in 1621. (Warning: Side tangent beginning). My favorite story about monks and beer comes from the good land of Bavaria, right here in Germany. Apparently, a few monks created a new beer for Lent. The monks were fasting during the Lenten season and were looking for a substitute for “nutrients and calories”. They created a darker beer and sent it to the Vatican to get approval from the Pope. The Pope took a sip and almost spit it up he sent a message to the monks that if they wanted to drink that beer during there fasting he would not disapprove. Well, the beer had to travel quite a distance and they did not have preservatives. The beer had already spoiled when the Pope tasted it. Crafty monks. Classic. Back to Salzburg, when you enter the brewery, you see shelves and shelves of beer steins. We all grabbed a liter stein and headed to the brew masters. They pour you a beer and you head to a large hall where people sit, drink and tell stories. (Warning: Stepping onto soapbox) Americans need to figure this concept out. You don’t need clubs with loud music and fake people. All you need it a cold drink and good friends. (Stepping off of soapbox) We enjoyed our beers and told stories, it was one of the best nights I’ve had in Europe....but they could use a dartboard...

Pictures

Vienna (Note: Most of these pictures were taken by Sara): http://picasaweb.google.com/MatthewArgubright/Vienna02?authkey=Gv1sRgCKDkk_Wl8JGf1gE&feat=directlink

Salzburg with Becca and Sara (My photos): http://picasaweb.google.com/MatthewArgubright/Salzburg?authkey=Gv1sRgCKvF0PTa2YHCBQ&feat=directlink

I got my Skis in the Powder...

My alarm started blaring at 0445. I didn’t even know that they had a four o clock in the morning. I hit snooze once and rolled over, trying to enjoy nine more minutes of sleep. I had only closed my eyes when I heard what sounded like a stampede occurring on the floor above me—I had asked Sara and Alison to stomp on the floor to make sure I didn’t oversleep. After all, it’s not everyday that you have a chance to go skiing in the Bavarian Alps.

(Now those of you who know me are probably saying, “Matt. Skiing. This is not a good idea.” You, of course, are right. For those of you who don’t know, I have only gone “skiing” twice. Both times were in the foothills of Missouri at Snow Creek and on one of those occasions I left in an ambulance…because they thought I was possibly paralyzed. Good times)

Mark, the art teacher, picked us up a few minutes after 0500 and we headed across base to meet up with about fifteen people, a few soldiers, mostly dependents, who were looking to hit the slopes. After a three-hour van ride, we arrived in The Winklmoosalm mountain community in Reit im Winkl, Germany near the Austrian border.

Upon arrival, I changed into my ski pants, put on my winter coat, strapped on my ski boots and headed to a bus that would take us to the top of the mountain. The group of skiers, along with our two instructors stepped off the bus and into the fresh powder. One of the leaders, an expert skier, turned to me and said, “You’ve done this before right?” I nodded, but added it had been about 6-7 years and my only experience was on manmade hills…in Missouri. He responded, “You’ll be fine. Have fun.” Great.

Mark and I headed towards a bunny hill that would lead us to the main ski lift. Hmm, French fries, pizza, French Fries, Pizza I reminded myself (A technique where you make turn your skis inward, shaping a slice of pizza to slow down, then straighten them like to French fries, to speed up). Yeah, I can do this. I made two turns before falling down. I made it to the bottom of the hill with the prestigious, “First to Fall Award”. Great.

However, the rest of the day went wonderful. I only fell a few times and went down some difficult runs. During the morning, I went around with Mark and a young man who works for Outdoor Recreation. We had great skiing and even better laughs. We stopped around noon and headed to the lodge for lunch. I had a delicious Wienerschnitzel and a fantastic Hefewiezen (think Boulevard Wheat times 100).

After lunch, I decided to branch out on my own and pulled out my iPod. I put on the new album by the Zac Brown Band (do yourself a favor and go buy it). I put on this track. If you listen to the song you might wonder what in the world it has to do with skiing in Germany—however if you think about the message of the song, enjoying life, I think it fits perfect. I played that song more than a few times during my ski trip and it really made me realize how blessed I am to have this experience in Europe. Great.

Feel free to check out my photos: The last six or seven are from my final run of the day. Beautiful scenery. http://picasaweb.google.com/MatthewArgubright/BavarianAlps?authkey=Gv1sRgCJGu3tKW6KDLbA&feat=directlink

The Four Posts That Were Never Meant To Be

Chris, Jason and I awoke around 5 AM on Monday morning after a full week in Rome. We walked from our hotel to the subway. Took the subway to a train. We attempted to buy a train ticket to the airport, but the machines would not let us do so. Apparently, no one works at an Italian train station until 12:30 pm, right before they take there three-hour lunch. The three of us jumped on a train hoping to buy tickets from someone on board. I ever asked two priests (who turned out to be deacons) for help, but to no avail. Apparently, the Italian National Train System didn't want our money. Upon arriving at the airport I had a nice conversation with one of deacons who (small world) is good friends with someone I served on NET with. I flew back to Munich and jumped on a bus to take me to the nearest train station. I arrived in Parsberg (the train station near Hohenfels) at 1:30 pm. Mark, the art teacher, was scheduled to pick me up around 3:30. Now for those of you scoring at home, my dad looked like this. Subway, train, plane, bus, train...and I still wasn't home yet. The idea of waiting in a run-down train station for a few hours did not sound too tempting. I saw a man in fatigues and thought, “What the hell”. I explained to him who I was and asked for a ride to post. He obliged and I avoided two hours in a train station and crossed “hitchhiking” off my bucket list (hmm, creating the rest of the list sounds like a great future post).

Since then, I’ve had a few headaches. On Tuesday, my 220-European power (my apartment has both 110 and 220) blew a fuse. It destroyed my laptop battery adapter, but luckily not my laptop. It also meant that I was with out a microwave…and a refrigerator. After emails, phone calls, and some German “customer service” my 220 power was restored…3 days later. Great. This led to me throwing out about $50-75 worth of groceries and left me without a laptop for a few days. I bit the bullet today and bought a new laptop charger. I had planned to write four posts this week, but because of these issues, I was unable to. However, I am a man of my word, plan on four posts by next Friday (April 24).

Quick list of what you’ll get:
· Bavarian Ski Trip
· Vienna
· Salzburg
· Amsterdam
· Munich with the Family
· Rome with Chris and Jason and His Holiness
· Photos of all of these places and Base

Stay tuned.

Rule 76, No Excuses. Play Like a Champion

An open letter to the three people who read this:

Dear mom and, well, uh, hopefully two other people,

I just want to apologize for taking so long to update. As some of you may have heard, I recently got internet in my apartment (Hooray!), which now gives me NO excuse for not updating this space. If you would like more posts over my last 4 weeks, please, please yell at me. That should do the trick.

Quick update:

Since I left off, I have traveled to Vienna, Salzburg, Amsterdam and went skiing in the Bavarian Alps. I also took a short trip to Nuremberg. Tomorrow (Thursday) I am leaving after school to head to Munich to meet up with my mom. Andy and Kelly are currently in Ireland and will meet up with us on Friday. The four of us will travel together (Munich, Salzburg, Dachau, perhaps Neuschwanstein (The castle the Disney one is based off). After four days with them, they will be heading back to the States and I am heading to Rome to meet up with Chris and Jason Walters for Holy Week!

I already have about fifteen stories I want to share, so I can't even imagine the update you will be getting in about 10-12 days.

Stay tuned, I have some good things, but just incase you don't believe me, here is a quick story:

About two weeks ago I was reading a story about outer space. The objective of my lesson was for my students to have a greater understanding of "categorization". The story included facts about stars, planets and comets. Throughout the story, I asked questions such as "Why do we not float into outer space?" and "What is the sun?"

A bright young student who responded answered the latter question: "It's a star".

"Very good" I replied, I went on to ask, "Then if the sun is a star, why is it so much bigger and brighter than the other stars?"

Another student raised his hand, "Because it's closer to earth".

"Correct", I told the young scholar. I was on a roll; let's bring on the big question.

"Okay, so if the sun is so big and bright, why does it get dark at night?"

One young boy raised his hand, "Well, uh, well, you SEE, the reason it gets....the reason it gets dark at night is because, well, Jesus turns off the lights."

Tough to argue with that...