So is it true???????????

I can't tell you the first time I heard rumor of the McDonald's in Germany selling beer. I think it was sometime during my time learning German in middle & high school. I assumed it wasn't true. I've traveled to many countries and I've never found a McDonald's that sold beer. Not that I seek out McDonald's food, it's just that they always have clean bathrooms!

As I made my way to the Bier und Oktoberfest Museum I passed a McDonald's. It crossed my mind that it might sell beer but I was on my way to the museum. I arrived at the museum about 40 minutes before it was scheduled to open. Looking for something to kill time I decided to wander back to the McDonald's.

To my surprise I found beer on the menu for 2 euro 10 cent. I decided to make it lunch and got myself a burger as well.

My lunch: beer & a big mac

Proof! My receipt.

You can't quite tell it's beer, but I assure you it is.

Zum Deutschland! (To Germany)

September 24th, a regular day, a Tuesday, the day I went to Germany. Excitement doesn't begin to cover it. For years I had been trying to get to Germany and once it was here, I didn't know how to process it. I'm the type of person who likes to think up Facebook statuses for various life events in advance. However instead of a long insightful anecdote, I just posted about how excited I was to post it.

Here I am! Leaving for Germany! Packed much lighter than I ever had and already I'm wishing I had packed even lighter.

My time in Norway was brief and spent mostly trying to acquire some coins for my brother. By the time I attempted to use the internet it was a few minutes before boarding. BOARDING A PLANE TO DEUTSCHLAND! (Excitement level hasn't gone down much).

I've flown through Germany once before as a layover traveling from France to the United States however I couldn't leave the airport. The professor of the course I was traveling with told me numerous times that if I left the airport, thus missing my flight, I would fail the course. Being the good student I was, I didn't leave the airport. But this time was different....

 

I LEFT MUNICH AIRPORT!!!!!!!

After successfully speaking in German to the man at the train ticket desk I sought out the S bahn.

Following the directions I was told in German, I easily located the platform and waited for my train.

I made it to the hostel within 3 hours of my plane landing. I think that's pretty good considering I had to wait for my checked bag & had a 45 minute train ride.

Chinese Food At Home!

During my time at my summer job I was constantly yearning for Chinese food. Not the Chinese food cooked up in local "Chinese" restaurants, but the real deal. Particularly I was yearning for Chinese street food, and my favorite was baozi. Since I figured I'd be unable to get real Chinese food for a while (being in Germany) and since my parents had never tried any; I decided to make a Chinese feast.

In order to make this Chinese feast, I had to go out in search of ingredients, since things like Shanxi vinegar and dark soy sauce aren't available at my local grocery store. My Mom and I ventured to the closest Asian market, about an hour north of my parents' home.

We came back with quite the load. I had the ingredients for Egg & Chive Baozi, Pork & Scallion Baozi, Kung Pao Chicken, Mapo Doufu, Sweet & Sour Pork, and Spicy Fried Green Beans. The guy working at the store who helped me find the ingredients I had trouble locating got a kick out of me and my Mom. I was asking for ingredients in Chinese and my Mom was perplexed by something called bananas in syrup that comes in a can.

It took me forever to chop up all the ingredients. I had given myself two hours of prep. In retrospect I should have given myself four hours of prep. Chinese food has a lot of prep time but very little cooking time, very different from the food I'm used to cooking. Thankfully my family was very eager to try the Chinese food and gave me a hand. Unfortunately I don't have any other pictures of the cooking process, I started to get overwhelmed and then my family started helping, and then we were done. Oops.

 

The above picture that I drew is a testament to my love of Baozi.

We were also too hungry to take pictures of all the food. By the time I was ready to take pictures most the plates were empty. So sad as I am that I don't have pictures, I'm glad that my family enjoyed the food. This is the only picture I have it has some of the food and some of my family. My parents are sitting with Sweet & Sour Pork, Spicy Fried Green Beans, and China Inspired Asparagus (my own creation).

The food came out very good! The only thing I have to work on really is my Baozi the dough was a little tough, but I suppose there are worse things I could have to work on.

It's Been Awesome

I love the word awesome. I like to describe things as awesome and I strive to make sure that everything I do is awesome. Life is short, something I've been reminded of a few to many times. Especially this summer. However despite some truly trying times, I must admit this summer was awesome.

Last March I spent the whole month applying to summer jobs in the United States. I had many phone interviews and it came down to two jobs. My first choice job and the job that all my friends thought I should take. It took me a few weeks to figure out what to do, but I followed my favorite saying:

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, your heart will not lead you astray."

I found myself working at Visions VCB or VCB as we commonly referred to it, a residential program for people who are blind or visually impaired. Here I worked through all the sessions ranging from small children to active adults. During my time in China I hadn't realized how much I missed helping people and at VCB I was constantly helping. More than that I was impacting someone's life. I know that teaching is impacting someone's life in a positive way as well, but somehow it's just not the same. It seems that no matter how long I postpone this post looking for the perfect words to describe it, I never seem to find them.

Growing up I always knew I wanted to help people, but I didn't know how I wanted to help people. In college I found Social Work, and I loved it. But somehow it wasn't enough. I wanted passion. And despite how much I loved my Social Work classes and internships, I didn't have passion for it. The only thing I found passion for was traveling. Working my summer job introduced me to the field of Visual Rehabilitation Therapy, something I think I've found a passion for and want to continue pursuing in the future. So as the title says it's been awesome!