Tuesday, February 28, 2012
One lucky man
On Monday I finished most of the preparations for my trip, went by Kenny's place to say goodbye to his parents and met up with a bunch of people for a farewell dinner in the evening. I was surprised and very happy to see how many had showed up and I felt so lucky and privileged to be surrounded by all those awesome people. Almost everyone from the LB area came. Dani, Kenny, Brenna, Lauren, Chris, Lindsay, Mike, Tom, Michael, Ivy, Mike, Leo, Eli, Shawn, Brianne, Bridget, Johnny and his partner were there to say goodbye and it made me very proud that I could call all these wonderful people my friends.
With a smaller group we went back to Dani's place, where I could have a beer too... and we had a partly sentimental but beautiful evening together. I also went to say goodbye to Della, Dani's mum, Joei, Kara and the dogs (Kaley wasn't there) who had taken really good care of me during my time here and had lovingly integrated me into the family.
It was not easy to say goodbye to every single friend in SoCal but I am sure that it won't be very long until I see them again.
Dave's Music Club
I have to apologize once again for not being up to date after such a long time doing not much but I am working on it. To prevent this from happening again I will skip the next two entries so that I can continue from where I am now. I will then try to stay up to date and eventually finish off the last posts about my time in the US which are already in the making but not quite done yet.
I also want to use this little post in between to promote the blog my brother Till created. It is a great platform for people who love music, music clips and the art of the written word to talk and share their thoughts. If you are into stuff like that I strongly recommend to take a good look. I love it!
http://davesmusicclub.wordpress.com/
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
2011 in retrospect
Another year has past and like every year it seemed so short but still so many things happened. My 2011 was packed with experiences, new and old friends and a lot of very happy moments. When I think all the way back, the year didn't start that glorious. Me and Mathis had to work at New Years until two o'clock and couldn't drink because we had to drive until the end. It got better very soon though, I finished my community service, organized my trip and moved back home for a few weeks before taking off into the wild wide world. I really enjoyed those weeks before I left because I spent a lot of time with my family and my very good friends in Germany who I knew I would miss a lot while I was gone. I was also very exited to reunite with Rebekka who I hadn't seen in nine months and to go back to Australia and my family and friends on the other side of the world. Australia offered me an awesome time and reinforced my love for that country and its people once again.
Then Indonesia and Malaysia. What a difference to what I knew before on every level. It was the first time for me on the Asian continent and the first time in a third world country and it was an intense but very beautiful and rewarding experience that formed and strengthened me a lot as a person and taught me many valuable lessons. And it is such a beautiful place with its seemingly infinitive possibilities and breathtaking landscapes. The travel experience we made there was very different to Australia and we didn't meet as many locals but we found a few very good friends in other travelers. I will have to go back there some time to continue what we have started and see what we missed.
Fiji was only a short stopover and when we left it was as if we had visited Eden and were sent back to earth after ten days. I have never seen water that clear, sand that white and people that friendly and simply happy. I regret a bit that I didn't go for a surf while I was there but that I didn't go only gives me a reason to go back again.
And California, bitter sweet California. I've been here for two months and my time here was amazing. The people I've met, the things I've seen, the lessons I've learned and the waves I've surfed were all incredible and each individually a journey and a reward by themselves and I feel so lucky that I could experience it the way I did but there is still something to the place that keeps me from loving it unconditionally. I cant quite figure out what it is but I know that the positive experiences I made are a lot stronger and will last a lot longer and the friends I made here are real friends and of the kind that you have to look for very carefully.
All in all 2011 was a great year for me and the pure life smiled at me with so many different faces, work, leisure, wealth, poverty, friendship, love, new life and death being only a few of them.
If this is how my life is going to be for the next year, I can't wait; I am ready for it.
Then Indonesia and Malaysia. What a difference to what I knew before on every level. It was the first time for me on the Asian continent and the first time in a third world country and it was an intense but very beautiful and rewarding experience that formed and strengthened me a lot as a person and taught me many valuable lessons. And it is such a beautiful place with its seemingly infinitive possibilities and breathtaking landscapes. The travel experience we made there was very different to Australia and we didn't meet as many locals but we found a few very good friends in other travelers. I will have to go back there some time to continue what we have started and see what we missed.
Fiji was only a short stopover and when we left it was as if we had visited Eden and were sent back to earth after ten days. I have never seen water that clear, sand that white and people that friendly and simply happy. I regret a bit that I didn't go for a surf while I was there but that I didn't go only gives me a reason to go back again.
And California, bitter sweet California. I've been here for two months and my time here was amazing. The people I've met, the things I've seen, the lessons I've learned and the waves I've surfed were all incredible and each individually a journey and a reward by themselves and I feel so lucky that I could experience it the way I did but there is still something to the place that keeps me from loving it unconditionally. I cant quite figure out what it is but I know that the positive experiences I made are a lot stronger and will last a lot longer and the friends I made here are real friends and of the kind that you have to look for very carefully.
All in all 2011 was a great year for me and the pure life smiled at me with so many different faces, work, leisure, wealth, poverty, friendship, love, new life and death being only a few of them.
If this is how my life is going to be for the next year, I can't wait; I am ready for it.
Christmas and the end of 2011!!!
The drive back to LA was long but the guys who took me down there were nice and talked a lot so it wasn't all too boring. Another guy who shared the ride as well was some sort of public lawyer and he had a lot of cool stories to tell about all the past murder trials he had worked at. We had dinner at "In-n-out", a fast food chain exclusive to CA and the number one thing almost everyone in the state is most proud of, and I must say it was probably the best fast food burger I've ever tasted. The ride share ended in Santa Monica but luckily Dani was working there through the month of December and could meet me at the drop off point and take me back to her place.
The cold weather in SF and especially the uninsulated basement of the Randolph mansion had affected my my health a little and back in Long Beach i could feel a nasty cold creeping into my body. I ignored the signs and met Dani in Santa Monica the next day where we went to an art show that was organized by one of her friends who owns a studio there. The art was amazing (check it out at http://www.curiobyafn.com/ if you like) and afterwards we met Greg, with whom we went sailing a few weeks ago and who was celebrating his move to SF.
Still sick I went for my first surf in SoCal, after the trip north, with Lindsay, a good friend and fellow student of Dani which turned out to be a bad idea, not because of Lindsay or the surf, but because it tied me to the bed for the next couple of days.
I rode Dani's bike to Kenny's place which was a nice ride along a canal for about 10 miles. It was good to catch up on everything with my American bro. I helped him and Brianne set up the pinball machine which they had been restoring and we just chilled at his place for the day and played pinball. Lauren came by and gave me a ride back to her place from where we walked to Dani's, who was having a few friends over and we spent the evening eating curry and drinking Jägermeister. It was going towards Christmas and I was invited to to join Lauren and her friends for the Jewish holiday of Chanukah. We lit the Menorah, ate Latkes and played Catan before we visited other friends who were celebrating with a lot more people and a lot more great food.
Then Christmas arrived. My Christmas eve day was one of the best days of my life but I'm having a really hard time to put in words what made it so great. I woke up on December 24th, had a nice breakfast and walked to a coffee shop that had WiFi, where I skyped with my family while they where unwrapping presents. It was nice to see them doing what we had been doing for years and it didn't even seem very far away. After that I skyped with Bekki who had also had a nice Christmas eve with her family. It was a beautiful day outside and really warm and I decided to go for a surf. Dani was working and had the car which meant that I had to get down to the beach another way. I didn't bother to think about how I would do it, I just grabbed my stuff, my board and walked out of the front door with a big smile on my face. At the big road I tried to hitchhike but no one wanted me so I decided to take the bus. What I only noticed after I had gotten onto the bus was that I didn't have the right change on me but the nice driver let me ride for free. I had to change buses and decided to give hitching another try. After only a short while a car pulled over to give me a ride. During the process of figuring out how to fit my board into their small car I found out that one of the two people also was a traveler from Germany.He and the American girl were on their way to San Diego and we talked and exchanged stories and they drove me all the way to the beach. I surfed for a few hours in nice, small waves and still nothing could wipe that big fat smile of my face that hadn't left since I woke up in the morning. I played a game of Volleyball with a Catholic church group who I had met on the beach before until it was dark and Dani came to pick me up. We took a little d-tour on the way back to buy Dani a surfboard (her Christmas present to herself) and ate dinner at her Mom's place while watching a real American Christmas classic: "This beautiful life". I felt better than I had felt in a long time and each time I tell someone about this day I realize that nothing very special had happened. It was just a good day!
Christmas. It was the first time for me that I didn't celebrate it at home with my family and friends and I had been awaiting it with both, interest and uncertainty. It turned out to be lovely and I am very happy that I could make that experience and that I found such great people, a home away from home, who let me into their lives and spend this day with them.
I had breakfast with Dani's family and we all unwrapped presents, I got a belt (I really needed one), a small and light flashlight and a super cool Fossil watch, exactly the model I wanted. Then Dani and I took her board out the first time and that was basically what we did for the next five days. The surf was amazing and Dani was done with work for the year which meant that we could stay in the water for hours and didn't have to worry about the time at all.
On the 29th we drove to Shaver Lake which was about 5 hours north in the sierras to meet some of Dani's friends from the program in which she had studied abroad in Costa Rica and celebrate the new year with them. We picked up Sarah in Ventura and had a fun drive up there with a lot of stories and laughter. We went snowboarding with Jenny and Patty, who owned the cabin we were staying at, which was a lot of fun even in the fake snow and I ended the day with a injury that I can still feel sometimes, almost two months later, and met the others when we came back to the cabin.We were 11 people and had a great and memorable (not so much for all of us, haha) New Years eve. I'm very glad that Dani took me because we had such a good time and her friends are all really great (Sarah even has BFF qualities).
The cold weather in SF and especially the uninsulated basement of the Randolph mansion had affected my my health a little and back in Long Beach i could feel a nasty cold creeping into my body. I ignored the signs and met Dani in Santa Monica the next day where we went to an art show that was organized by one of her friends who owns a studio there. The art was amazing (check it out at http://www.curiobyafn.com/ if you like) and afterwards we met Greg, with whom we went sailing a few weeks ago and who was celebrating his move to SF.
Still sick I went for my first surf in SoCal, after the trip north, with Lindsay, a good friend and fellow student of Dani which turned out to be a bad idea, not because of Lindsay or the surf, but because it tied me to the bed for the next couple of days.
I rode Dani's bike to Kenny's place which was a nice ride along a canal for about 10 miles. It was good to catch up on everything with my American bro. I helped him and Brianne set up the pinball machine which they had been restoring and we just chilled at his place for the day and played pinball. Lauren came by and gave me a ride back to her place from where we walked to Dani's, who was having a few friends over and we spent the evening eating curry and drinking Jägermeister. It was going towards Christmas and I was invited to to join Lauren and her friends for the Jewish holiday of Chanukah. We lit the Menorah, ate Latkes and played Catan before we visited other friends who were celebrating with a lot more people and a lot more great food.
Then Christmas arrived. My Christmas eve day was one of the best days of my life but I'm having a really hard time to put in words what made it so great. I woke up on December 24th, had a nice breakfast and walked to a coffee shop that had WiFi, where I skyped with my family while they where unwrapping presents. It was nice to see them doing what we had been doing for years and it didn't even seem very far away. After that I skyped with Bekki who had also had a nice Christmas eve with her family. It was a beautiful day outside and really warm and I decided to go for a surf. Dani was working and had the car which meant that I had to get down to the beach another way. I didn't bother to think about how I would do it, I just grabbed my stuff, my board and walked out of the front door with a big smile on my face. At the big road I tried to hitchhike but no one wanted me so I decided to take the bus. What I only noticed after I had gotten onto the bus was that I didn't have the right change on me but the nice driver let me ride for free. I had to change buses and decided to give hitching another try. After only a short while a car pulled over to give me a ride. During the process of figuring out how to fit my board into their small car I found out that one of the two people also was a traveler from Germany.He and the American girl were on their way to San Diego and we talked and exchanged stories and they drove me all the way to the beach. I surfed for a few hours in nice, small waves and still nothing could wipe that big fat smile of my face that hadn't left since I woke up in the morning. I played a game of Volleyball with a Catholic church group who I had met on the beach before until it was dark and Dani came to pick me up. We took a little d-tour on the way back to buy Dani a surfboard (her Christmas present to herself) and ate dinner at her Mom's place while watching a real American Christmas classic: "This beautiful life". I felt better than I had felt in a long time and each time I tell someone about this day I realize that nothing very special had happened. It was just a good day!
Christmas. It was the first time for me that I didn't celebrate it at home with my family and friends and I had been awaiting it with both, interest and uncertainty. It turned out to be lovely and I am very happy that I could make that experience and that I found such great people, a home away from home, who let me into their lives and spend this day with them.
I had breakfast with Dani's family and we all unwrapped presents, I got a belt (I really needed one), a small and light flashlight and a super cool Fossil watch, exactly the model I wanted. Then Dani and I took her board out the first time and that was basically what we did for the next five days. The surf was amazing and Dani was done with work for the year which meant that we could stay in the water for hours and didn't have to worry about the time at all.
On the 29th we drove to Shaver Lake which was about 5 hours north in the sierras to meet some of Dani's friends from the program in which she had studied abroad in Costa Rica and celebrate the new year with them. We picked up Sarah in Ventura and had a fun drive up there with a lot of stories and laughter. We went snowboarding with Jenny and Patty, who owned the cabin we were staying at, which was a lot of fun even in the fake snow and I ended the day with a injury that I can still feel sometimes, almost two months later, and met the others when we came back to the cabin.We were 11 people and had a great and memorable (not so much for all of us, haha) New Years eve. I'm very glad that Dani took me because we had such a good time and her friends are all really great (Sarah even has BFF qualities).
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Don't leave yet...
I was alone. I wasn't quite sure how it would be without Bekki, one part of me was sad to see her go but another part liked the thought of traveling all by myself. The goodbye at the airport was very quick and after I got home I fell into a hole of loneliness, Bekki was gone, everyone else was at work and I didn't have anything to do. It only took me one day to get over it though and I felt good when I got up the next day. I went to the botanical garden with Tommy where we spent most of the day walking through the flora of different regions of the world and were shadowed by two squirrels for almost 30 minutes. The best part of the gardens was the one where they had all the prehistoric plants and I learned a lot about the evolution of plants that I didn't know before. On the way back we passed a liquor store where Tommy introduced me to some of the local beers that are brewed in micro breweries all over SF.
I had to say goodbye to those very good people because I had found a ride on Craigslist to take me back to LA on Thursday and so I left early in the morning to meet my ride in Ashby which was about one hour away. I took the BART with all my stuff on my back and arrived there just in time when she texted me that she would be about an hour late. A little bit pissed I had a look around for a supermarket, I hadn't had breakfast yet, where I bought a French baguette and some Swiss cheese. I sat down in front of the train station, ate my brunch and waited for my ride but she didn't come. After almost two hours of waiting I got a short text saying that she couldn't drive that day and that she is terribly sorry... well at least she was sorry but she had still made this day one of the worst days for me in the US.
Tired and disappointed I got back on the BART to Randolph street where I found some comfort and had another good night. Looking back it was actually good that I spent another night there because I really liked them and if I could go back in time I would have stayed there even longer ( they offered me a room in the basement and said should stay for the next year). I had such a good time there, especially the evenings when we all sat together and recorded music.
Tommy, the guy who lived in the basement was moving to New York the day I left and I was invited to come along to his farewell breakfast. We were a big group with Tommy, Mandy, Paul, Brian, Burd, Chris and Eric and we all shared a small table in a small restaurant but it was nice and great for me to be a part of it.
After that we all said goodbye, Tommy was leaving and I had found another ride to LA. It was a sad moment but I am very happy that I met them and could stay at their place for that long. Those people definitely get on my "good friends" list who I want to visit again.
I had to say goodbye to those very good people because I had found a ride on Craigslist to take me back to LA on Thursday and so I left early in the morning to meet my ride in Ashby which was about one hour away. I took the BART with all my stuff on my back and arrived there just in time when she texted me that she would be about an hour late. A little bit pissed I had a look around for a supermarket, I hadn't had breakfast yet, where I bought a French baguette and some Swiss cheese. I sat down in front of the train station, ate my brunch and waited for my ride but she didn't come. After almost two hours of waiting I got a short text saying that she couldn't drive that day and that she is terribly sorry... well at least she was sorry but she had still made this day one of the worst days for me in the US.
Tired and disappointed I got back on the BART to Randolph street where I found some comfort and had another good night. Looking back it was actually good that I spent another night there because I really liked them and if I could go back in time I would have stayed there even longer ( they offered me a room in the basement and said should stay for the next year). I had such a good time there, especially the evenings when we all sat together and recorded music.
Tommy, the guy who lived in the basement was moving to New York the day I left and I was invited to come along to his farewell breakfast. We were a big group with Tommy, Mandy, Paul, Brian, Burd, Chris and Eric and we all shared a small table in a small restaurant but it was nice and great for me to be a part of it.
After that we all said goodbye, Tommy was leaving and I had found another ride to LA. It was a sad moment but I am very happy that I met them and could stay at their place for that long. Those people definitely get on my "good friends" list who I want to visit again.
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