The Most Amazing Adventure of my Life, Part 1.

So you may or may not have noticed that in a few of my previous posts, I've mentioned that there was a long and complicated story about my absence from certain activities. Well, I think the time has come for me to begin telling you that story. It is indeed very long: so long, in fact, that there is no way I can cover it all in one blog post. This is merely the beginning. 

The Heidelberg castle in the winter time.

So I've mentioned that I'm a double major in Linguistics and German. Well, the Linguistics degree was coming along quite well, but my German comprehension was remaining at about the same level. I'd contemplated furthering my studies in German for a while, but in Fall 2008, I decided to actually do something about it. I had an interview with the head of the German study abroad coordinator in November, and she encouraged me to fill out an application. My boyfriend at the time was supportive of the idea (at the time, I never did anything without his approval), and so I did. I filled the 85 pounds worth of paperwork, wrote a heartbreaking essay about how I'd die if I didn't get on this exchange, paid the entry fee, and waited. And waited. And waited. 2 months went by, and I didn't hear a word. Christmas came and went. A new semester began. The study abroad coordinator became a teacher of mine. I'm almost positive she got tired of my asking every day in class whether or not they'd made a decision yet. I know I got tired of hearing her say "Not yet. Not yet."

Finally, one day in early February, after almost going insane, I received an email. The preview of it said "Exchange 2009-2010: We would like to inform you that..." I swear it took me 30 minutes to work up the courage to actually click the email and see what it said. I needn't have worried: The email was full of good news. I was accepted to go to Heidelberg, Germany for a whole year. Hello new country, goodbye old life! 

The money is so colorful here!

I'll skip the rest of this school year, the summer, the break-up, and go straight to the day I was supposed to fly out of the country for the first time. I'd become good friends with another girl who was also going to Heidelberg (there were only three of us, and the third guy never spoke to us), and we decided to fly to Germany together. We took the red eye, and arrived in Frankfurt Flughafen (airport) at about 7:30am. I couldn't sleep the whole ride over, and so was basically running on a lot of coffee and adrenaline when we finally landed. An online friend of mine was supposed to meet us to help us get to Heidelberg, but there were two problems with that: a) I didn't really know what she looked like, and b) I had no way to call her and see where she was. It was only by complete chance that she found us while we were getting some Euros. We got on the ICE train (Stands for Inter-City Express) with our 892719274631792673712098127 suitcases and successfully managed to make it to Heidelberg. I won't bore you with the ridiculous amounts of paperwork we had to do and the attempt to actually find our new dorms (sounds like it'd be fun, but it's really not). I'll also skip to the first day of classes.

Nicole and I. She was one of my first friends.

We had to take an introductory class that would supposedly help us acclimate to the German culture and colloquial speech. It turned out to just be a grammar class. On the bright side, I did learn how to snore in German. Other than that, it was an extremely boring time. I did get to meet my first new friends: an Arizona girl named Nicole, a couple of French guys named Florian and Pierre, a Scotsman named Craig, and a bunch more. Nicole introduced me to a schoolmate of hers back in the States named Ashley (name sound familiar?). Every day for a month, they gave us a traditional German breakfast (bread / pretzel, coffee, some kind of meat every once in a while, or some kind of pastry), and we strengthened our friendships. The best part of the day was definitely when we were dismissed from class. Nicole and I would walk down the Hauptstrasse (main street. This is the main shopping district of the town) and try on clothes, look for stuff for our dorm, and marvel at the fact that we were actually living in Germany. 

My intro class. Everyone came from all over the world!
It was a boring class, but I'm glad I got to meet these
people.

One thing I had to adjust to was walking everywhere. I wasn't the skinniest of girls before I left the States, so having to walk even a mile was a little bit of a challenge. But in Germany, everyone either walks or takes the bus. There are few people who actually drive. I'd huff and puff and complain about having to just walk up and down the Hauptstrasse once, but by the end of the month, it wasn't even a challenge anymore. 

Up at the castle! Ashley, me, Abby (the other UGA girl),
Dan, and Kenny! (Photo by Lauren)

                                                                       

Towards the end of the month, a famous violinist (Andre Rieu) came to do a concert in downtown Heidelberg. The tickets were very expensive, and they sold out very quickly. However, there was one place with excellent seating and the price couldn't be beat (Read: free): Up at the castle. A little geography lesson about Heidelberg: it's nestled in this little valley in the foothills of the Alps. The castle is about halfway (or about 314 steps) up the mountain, so the location had an excellent view. Ashley invited me to go up there that night with some of her new friends on a midnight picnic. I was a little concerned about the legality, but I decided it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I went anyway. We hiked up the mountain with our wares (read: various types of alcohol. The drinking age is 16, and there are no open container laws in Germany, so we weren't breaking the law in that sense), found a great location in one of the gardens, and listened to the beautiful concert. On the way up, I was introduced to Ashley's other friends: Kenny, Dan, and Lauren. I brought along Abby, the friend who also came from my school. Dan was very friendly, and we really hit it off (that's a long story that you don't really need to know about). The view was a bit obscured by the castle, but the music came in just fine. We had a great time, and we even had a nice conversation with the security guard (so much for the illegality).

I arrived home that night very late, and very tired. But I fell asleep with a smile on my face, excited that the year was shaping up to be so awesome.

END PART 1

I'm sorry I haven't been posting so much these past few days. I'm on vacation (blog about that to follow soon) right now, so it's preventing normal posting. This adventure is going to take several posts as well, so just sit back, relax, and enjoy! See you next time!!

Green

So, let me preface this post by saying that the subject material was not an original inspiration. Let's just say that when asking "So what should I blog about next?", you should be very be aware that people can come up with some interesting things... So, thanks Vash. :)

I shall now attempt to write about the color green. Here's a list of some things that I know about this interesting color:

GREEN

She love you long time.

1) Green is the middle color of the rainbow.
2) Green M&Ms are sometimes considered an aphrodisiac.
3) There is a band called Green Day. Their music is sometimes pretty ok.
4) Soylent Green is people.
5) Most leaves in the summertime are green. However, this is not always the case.
6) Plants are green due to chlorophyll (or that's what my biology teacher told me, anyway).
7) "Going green" is the new term for being a hippy (I kid, I kid).
8) Army men are supposed to be green.
9) The Green Lantern has a lantern...that may or may not be green :p

It's not easy being green.

10) Legolas' last name is Greenleaf.
11) Limes are green. They are also supposed to be put in a coconut for some strange reason.
12) If bananas are green, you probably shouldn't eat them yet.
13) It's not easy being green.
14) Green turtle shells will only continue in one direction until they go off screen.
15) Some firetrucks are green because that's the most easily seen color by the human eye.
16) The Green Bay Packers' "G" is used by both UGA and my high school, and their colors are...you guessed it... Green and gold.
17) I have never seen The Green Mile.

Greenbacks

18) American dollars are also known as Greenbacks, due to their hue.
19) I do not like green tea.
20) You need a Green Card in order to be a U.S. (legal) immigrant.
21) Green olives are good.
22) So are green dill pickles.
23) Most frogs have a greenish color.
24) The Green Ranger was cute.
25) Apparently "turning green" when you're nauseated can be literal (that's another anecdote for another day).
26) The first book my sister ever read was Green Eggs and Ham.
27) Green lights only occur when you have something to do while you're in your car and you need a red light.
28) The "WALK" guy in Europe is green.
29) My boyfriend has green eyes.
30) Green apples are the tastiest ones.

Caesar salad is the best salad.

31) Artificial green apple flavor, however, is not so good.
32) Robert Green made a terrible error during the game against the US in the 2010 World Cup.
33) If food which normally is another color has suddenly become green, it's time to throw it out.
34) Lettuce is only good in salads, and should stay away from tacos and sandwiches.
35) If you're trying to give a gift to a pregnant woman whose baby you're not sure of the gender, green is a safe, neutral color.
36) Green berets are total badasses.
37) A lot of parrots are green.
38) Green zones are points of neutrality between hostile factions.

Jealous, much?

39) The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
40) Green kryptonite is one of Superman's weakness.
41) A green flash at sunset is supposedly when the spirits come back on earth for a short time.
42) Green is the color of envy.
43) Also, the Hulk when he's angry.

Well, this is probably all I can think of at the moment. Want me to blog about something? Send me a message or leave a comment!! As you can see, I'll pretty much talk about anything.

On a housekeeping note: I have no idea how often I'm going to post. Some days I won't blog at all, and some days (like today) I'll post several in a row. Thanks for reading!!

Humans vs Zombies

These are my moderators. They're the guys that make sure the events run

 smoothly and that everything is legal.

This year I was determined to play. I followed the event on Facebook. I signed up on the website. I even read the rules. This year, I was going to actually get to play Humans vs Zombies. I mean, come on: imagine a 40,000 acre campus, with over 1200 students actively playing, trying to neutralize the zombies / turn all the humans into members of the infectious horde. I mean, who wouldn't want to play that? I heard about this game for the first time last year. Unfortunately, I couldn't play because being in another country seriously hinders being able to play at my particular campus. Oh well. Better late than never.

Sooooo, I signed up on the website and wrote down my ID code on a little piece of cardboard. This code is very important: it's what separates human-me versus zombie-me. If I get tagged, then I have to give this scrap to the zombie who "bit" me (a zombie bites a human by tagging them with both hands). Meanwhile, I have to arm myself against these cerebrally ravenous creatures. Obviously, we humans can't use real weapons to arm ourselves with, as this would certainly cause trouble as headshots would be a little more permanent. However, we are not left defenseless: our weapons consist of Nerf guns and sockbombs. It sounds a little simple, but let me tell you: those little darts can sting if shot from the right weapons. And the sockbombs are a good way to take out zombies if your aim isn't all that it should be. So, knowing this, I promptly forget about buying any ammo the weekend before and go to school completely unarmed. Fortunately, I also forgot my identifier (in order for players to know if someone is also playing or not, we all had to wear bandannas. These bandannas also had to have neon duct tape on them, so the police would know you weren't actually a terrorist but someone who is trying to save the human race from complete zombification. If you're a human, you have to wear the bandanna as an armband. If you become a zombie, then the bandanna has to be around your head or neck. Zombies also need duct tape so the humans can know which people are actually playing and which people are trying to make a fashion statement).

Day 1: I ran civilian throughout the first part of the day. As I was on the bus heading to class, I saw people at almost every bus stop with colored armbands and these ridiculously HUGE Nerf guns. I kept kicking myself at my lack of preparation, but swore that I would come back in the afternoon to hunt zombies, fully armed and merciless. When my classes finally ended (I get out at noon, but it seemed like I was stuck in class for 35000 hours), I made a beeline for my car and drove straight home to drop off my books. While I was there, I picked up my roommate Allie who also wanted to play. I loaded up with sockbombs and tied my bandanna around my arm. Once armed, we then headed out...to Walmart (we needed a lot more firepower than a couple of socks. We needed Nerf).

What my gun looks like.

When we arrived at Ye Olde Wally World, the first thing we saw was the granddaddy of all Nerf guns. Unfortunately, it was almost certainly on the ban list of not-so-legal Nerf guns to have on campus. So we headed back into the toys section only to find that the entire area had been picked clean of all the Nerf guns that were on the good list. There was only one decent gun left that was still legal, so we snatched it up as quickly as possible. Throw in some refill darts and some teal colored duct tape and we were ready to hunt some zombies.

We arrived on campus, only to realize that our guns were battery operated. The nearest convenience store is on campus, so we had to sneak around, armed with two non-functioning guns and 4 sock bombs running around and hoping that no zombies try to attack us. Even though we both know that it's only a game and it's for fun, we're both completely terrified and on edge. Thankfully, we arrive at the store unpursued, and we purchase our batteries, only to discover that we have no idea how to actually turn the things on. What you can't see in the above picture is an orange knob with "on" on one end, and "off" at the other. Seems fairly straightforward, right? Well, there's no clear way to indicate exactly how you're supposed to turn it on. It looks like a dial, and it spins like a dial, but nothing happens. Finally, one of us figured out that it's a switch, not a dial. tl;dr- Nina's not so smart sometimes.

After finally getting everything started, Allie had obligatory school things to do, so we separated ways. I canvased the entire campus alone (NEVER a good idea), but didn't seem to see any zombie or horde-ish activity. After a few hours, I finally found a human hunting party of about 10 heavily armed guys. Around this same time, I was supposed to rendezvous with Allie. We set up a designated meeting spot, and the guys were nice enough to provide cover for me while I waited. Unfortunately, we waited in vain. While we were waiting, I suddenly heard a scream with a most familiar voice...Sure enough, it was Allie. We decided to set a new rendezvous point: my car.

I walked with the guys for a few more minutes, but eventually we had to part ways, as they were hunting in a different area than my final destination. My car was in the opposite part of campus from where I was, and it was late enough that the buses weren't running anymore. Not to mention I was completely alone, with any number of shadows that could easily hide a clever zombie... Paranoid doesn't even begin to describe how I felt as I walked to my car. Every single leaf that rustled, every tiny bit of motion in the corner of my eye made my heart pound a little more, made me just a little more tense. Finally, I saw my first zombie: my roommate. She was in the parking lot, but her back was to me. I turned on my gun and shot her (if you shoot a zombie, they can't attack you for 15 minutes). She wasn't too amused. When we were finally in my car, I felt all the tension that had been mounting drain from my body (vehicles and off-campus sites are neutral zones). I would live as a human for another day.

Day 2: This day was by far the most uneventful day of the week. I somehow managed to sneak my way into class, only to discover that two of my classmates had been turned the day before. I saw the other remaining humans eyeing them warily, but I wasn't worried about them: my next class was in the same building, so I was safe no matter what. Once I got out of classes for the day, I literally walked throughout campus again without seeing a single zombie, got into my car and went home. Sleep deprivation demanded that I pay penance to the sleepy gods, and I once again survived to fight another day.

Day 3: I started the day similarly to Day 2. I managed to sneak into my class, give a presentation completely decked out in ammo, building hop though buildings between my next class, which garnered me no end of strange looks, and successfully make it to my final class of the day. Afterwards, I once again walk to my car without any sight of an undead. Today, however, I decided to hunt again instead of taking a nap. I walked back up to where I was, and I saw a fellow hunter. He needed an escort to his next class, and I agreed to go with him. Along the way, a seemingly innocuous moped drove by. The next thing I know, I feel hands slamming into my back. I turn around, and I see the zombie that just attacked us both. Now I have to switch teams: the humans are the prey, and the zombies are the good guys. After I get turned, I decide to call it a day and go home.

Day 4: My first full day as a zombie began much in the same way as the other days. The exception being that this time the humans are my enemies, and I was trying my best not to be shot by Nerf darts. In my first class, there were no survivors. We all gave each other knowing looks and exchanged "turning" stories. I saw a couple of hunters, but I failed in actually killing them. During one attempt, I tried to sneak attack him by going into the building behind him and pulling a one-over on him. Unfortunately, I didn't count on him being the bait. I got shot twice by his friend who was lying in wait for zombies to attack him. However, I did manage to successfully sneak attack two gentlemen who were most displeased to discover that their transformation into zombiehood was caused by a short girl.

Day 5: This was the day that every player was looking forward to: Final Mission Day. Our ultimate goal was to protect our Zombie King and take out all remaining humans. Our "hive" was at the top of a parking deck at the edge of campus. The humans' objective is to take what they called the "Big Bad Bow" up to the top of the deck and shoot the king, thus making zombies mortal. We interspersed throughout the deck and lay in wait for the attack. Those poor humans didn't stand a chance. They didn't even make it halfway up the deck before we had eliminated all the carriers of the B.B.B. (only the mods were allowed to carry it, so no more mods = game over). In the spirit of fun, we decided to make the run a second time. All the humans who were turned went back to being humans, and we all had to start from the beginning. However, this time the zombies decided to create a line at the beginning and go on the offensive. With a cry of "LEEEEROOOOOY JEEENNNKIIINNNNSSS!!!", we ran and attacked the waiting humans. This time I was the one who took out the mods and caused the victory for the horde (I'm still pretty proud of myself about that, even if it didn't technically count :) ).

So my total kill count ended up being about 10. All in all, I don't think I've ever had this much fun being that completely terrified. Hopefully, I'll be able to survive a little longer next semester. And I'll definitely be better prepared: I'm going to be dual-wielding. Thanks for reading! Sorry it was so long...Hopefully next time I won't go on so much :) Till next time!