25 March 2013

Tales from Bavaria

We might have mentioned a couple of times in the last articles that I've been spending my last 6 months doing an internship in Munich. All went well and now that I'm leaving I decided to share a bit of my experience here.

Living in Bavaria is clearly a character building experience. Bavaria is known even throughout Germany for its exclusivist nature. All the traditions are kept so stringently and the culture of the place is so well protected that most of the time all the facts that foreigners know about Germany comes from Bavaria. And if you would already expect to feel like an alien coming from the outside, if you don`t even have the common sense to learn German beforehand, you`re going to start living life on hardcore. However, despite all, I managed to have some fun here and I speak it like it is an accomplishment because it is. (It`s funny cause it`s true). So to keep it as less tl;dr as possible I've made some visuals about things that "moved" me.


















This is something anyone tends to notice at the beginning. Simply walking on the street and watching the people they all look like they had the worst day. Germans why so frowny all the time? But on the other side of expressions, I really like the German characters. They`re so nice and cute

No I will not understand what`s with the sparkling drinks here. Especially apple juice. Why ruin a nice glass of apple juice by putting sparkling water in it? WHY?!


















The weather in Munich is the most annoying weather I had to live in. And I lived 10 months in the Netherlands. That should say it all.
 
This country makes home for more types of sausages that I'm in the mood to draw right now. And yes we did all the jokes that were to be done about this subject. So I've chosen to draw the most traditional one, the Weisswurst. I still have mixed feelings about this one but you know what they say, like it or not you can suck it.





























































Oktoberfest is pretty cool I have to admit. It`s horribly expensive but definitely something you have to try once in your life :D It`s a nice atmosphere, drunk people are always funny (if you are remotely drunk too), the beer is everywhere, the girls are pretty. I would even go so far to compare it with the carnival in North Brabant  (I expect I`ll be kicked out of both countries asap) I know it`s a different thing with different purpose but there was there was something that made me put them together.



If there`s something that helped me feel nicer here it`s listening to the local music. Not only to learn a few more words in German but simply to discover that they actually rock :D
If you`re curious to listen to some of my favourite German songs listen to this playlist

















If you`re a vegetarian in Bavaria, clearly you`re gonna have a bad time. And even if I'm a proud meat eater I'm still not that fond of the traditional meals (weeeelll except for spatzle, kartoffelsalad, nuddlsalad, dammit I`m a hypocrite). However when it comes to sweets, I have a different stand. Marmor Kuchen, Stollen, Apple strudel, Kaiserschmarrn; that`s just some of the home made delicious cakes and I`m not even mentioning the great candy that comes through export from here. 

















Oh internet. Yes, as you know it half of the internet is banned here and people rarely speak meme which saddens me the most (that`s why they make fun of Germans on 9gag because none of them are actually there ). Not to mention how hard was for me to get a proper connection at my place. I think the lack of internet and internet geeks here stood as a very strong point in the "Why I don`t wanna live in Munich" list.

If there`s anything I particularly like at Bavarians, and Germans everywhere it`s their pride for their culture and country. It`s something I admire and somehow envy that I can`t share the same feeling for my country. As a matter of fact I've never met one Romanian to be so proud and respectful towards his own culture (no, Eminescu, not even you, not even once) and by that I don`t mean pissing off some Hungarians with a idiotic rebellious gesture, I mean a really meaningful relationship with one`s cultural roots. Most of the time I'm asked if I would ever come back to live here again. I wouldn't say no. In the end it`s a decent place to live and if you`re with the right people, any place will feel like home. I did enjoy the Netherlands more, though, and I still stand by my dream to go back there as soon as possible. (I`ll leave the comparison of cultures for another time ) Somehow I feel Germany has just begun trolling me.Even though there were many times I wished to leave Munich as soon as possible, I have to admit I will definitely miss some people (te quierooooo Eli!!!!!)  and I guess that`s the biggest disadvantage to go from place to place, the more you stay the more your roots attach to the ground until it`s too late to leave. And this is one of my fears: getting tied up to a place that does `t suit me. And if there`s one thing I learned in Bavaria it`s: Less complaining, more acting. That beer ain't gonna drink itself.  



7 March 2013

Live


Take a risk. Change something.

That little Italian place you've been passing by each day on your way to work? Take 5 minutes to walk in and have some gelato there. That cute girl in class that you keep wanting to approach, but never seem to find the chance to? Just walk up to her and ask her out for a cup of coffee. The relative you want to patch things up with when you have some time? Make time, call them, before the break gets too big to fix.

Things won't happen on their own, you have to make them change. Take a chance, do something.

Don't settle for 9 to 5. Don't settle for "we get along well enough." Don't lie to yourself saying "I'll do it when I have the chance." Don't settle. Strive for better, for your dreams, for happiness. You might never reach your goal, but trying to get there will make you feel alive. It will make you feel like you matter.

It's not about where you'll end up; we all end up in the same place. It's about what you do until you get there. It's about how many times you smiled and made other people laugh. It's about the places you saw and the things you experienced. It's about that one time you took your shoes off and danced barefoot in the rain. It's about that stranger you kissed on the train without ever seeing them again.



Be stupid. Be crazy. Be alive. Be anything you want, as long as it makes you happy. You only get one chance at life, don't spend it waiting for life to just happen.