I moved to Italy: Schlusshensie and Aha

Friday, June 12, 2009

Schlusshensie and Aha

Come with me now as I take you on the most boring adventure in all of German or American history. So before our whirlwind of travel to the Alscace, Paris and Amsterdam; we thought it would be a grand idea to take in the Black Forest (Schwartwald) of Germany. On the way to Schlusshensie, the announcer on the train says that the town of Aha is the next stop. Our hostel is in Schlusshensie (hereafter dubbed S-town because that is quite a word to spell each time), but we can't get Aha out of our minds. What a name! Why didn't we stay there instead of unpronounceable S-town? Aha haunts us. We have to see it. We are compelled. We check into our hostel in S-town and get back on the train to see what wonders the town of Aha has in store for us. The adventure is in pictures below:
Oh and ps, the whole time we were saying Aha like Aha!!!... We were excited.

We took the train one stop and got out at Aha! This is me, triumphant that we got there. What a great time we will have in this place... hey where did the train go?

Um, so above is what we say when the train pulled away. Did they make a special stop in Aha for us? It doesn't look like that train track has been used in YEARS.

What is there to do in Aha? Well, you can hike in the Black Forest...

You can conquer the Black Forest, as I am pictured doing above (really, it was easy).

You can look at this here meadow. That is all there is to do in Aha.

This is Sarah at the same sign after our adventure when we realized that the "town" of Aha isn't a town... it's not even really a train stop. Oh, and it is appropriately spelled WITHOUT the exclamation mark. Aha. Not Aha!

This is back in S-town. Can you spot the flower amongst the flowers?

This is how we found out that "Wiener-Lay" means "American Hotdog". Yes, this is hot dog soup. FANCY, hot dog soup.

Eating Black Forest cake, whilst IN the Black Forest, seemed the thing to do. A gleeful Sarah in the above picture illustrates the correctness of this thinking.

I look bad. Let's just get that out in the open and get over it. It was SUPER cold. The important thing to take away from this picture is that I am drinking mug full of HOT red wine!

The peaceful lake that we walked around to get back to S-town when we realized that the Aha train was NOT coming back.

So ends the saga of S-town and Aha. We spent TWO nights there. Geez.

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Acronyms and slang you'll need to know:

PT: Physical Training = mandatory excersise. Usually in the early morning. Like really, really early in the morning!

METC: Naval Medical Education Training Center= The Navys newest, most advanced, multi-billion dollar Tri-Service Medical Education campus. College for Navy Corpsmen.

"What had happed was...": Did you just get in trouble with the Navy? Speeding ticket? Late to watch? Just plain didn't go in to work today? Craft an AMAZING excuse with class 170's patented line.

Examples include: "Well Chief, what had happed was the sign with the speed limit was obstructed by a... soldier" (when in doubt, always blame the Army)

And who could forget: "Well Captain, sir, what had happed was we were told to do one thing by you, but orders from METC superseded and therefore negated your command. Also the Army said we looked like dorks. And that's not true sir! You know THEY are the ones who look like dorks."

Sick Call: Hospital/Clinic hours dedicated to seeing active duty Navy and Marines with no appointment. Run by Corpsman.

Mando: Mandatory = "Mando PT" "Mando Study Session" or "Mando Fun"

Mando Fun= Direct orders to gather at a certain time, in uniform and participate in a command function. Usuall on one's own time.

Scuttlebutt: A rumor. Or a drinking fountain.

Shipmate: A fellow member of the Navy. Can be used in a sincere manner "let me get the door for you shipmate!" or as code for as$ho!e, "hey thanks for cutting in front of me shipmate!"

Balls: Midnight = "I have watch balls to 3am"

Watch: Duty

Rover: A kind of Watch. You get a partner and walk around the ship, making sure no one steals it.

BAS: Basic Subsistance Allowance = "We don't need to give you time to eat breakfast, we give you BAS. Get some breakfast bars and bring them with you".

Peanut Butters: Navy Service Uniform= black pants with a brown shirt. We all hate them!

Cammies/ NW's: Navy Working Uniform. Blue on Blue digital camoflauge. We love them. Feels like wearing your pj's all day!

Cover: Your hat.

Orders: Where you will be working for the next 2-3 years.

NAVHOSPCORPSCHOOL: Navy Hospital Corps School

OPSEC: Operational Security - "Well sailor, we can't stop you from keeping a blog, but try to remember OPSEC and not post anything the enemy can use... like the high depression rate at this command"

BIG NAVY: The Navy is a corporation. Corporate Headquarters is in DC. Each individual Command is its own little world, operating independently and smoothly... until BIG NAVY decides to throw its weight around. BIG NAVY is "They". "They decided to change the Watchbill". "They" wan mandatory drug testing. "They" are ruining this Command by instituting insane policies that have nothing to do with the mission here. "They" will get you (see Don't Ask, Don't Tell post).