Ich möchte eins fahrkarten, bitte.

I don´t think I mentioned previously that I did a crash course in German when I was in Paris. I had looked up most of the common words and phrases on the internet. I did this based off what I´d encountered in France. I knew I´d need numbers, the word for night, the days of the week, etcetera. One of the hostels I stayed at fortunately had some lovely German ladies that were more than happy to help a poor American boy with his pronunciation. Below are examples of my progression so far between languages... my german spelling probably needs work... but having never taking a formal class and going off memory, I´d say I´m doing alright. Due to formatting issues on Travelblog that I haven't figured out, I'll put my list at the end of this entry.

The gals I stayed with in Dortmund were slightly surprised that I had "figured out" their number system. Although, I'd say Germany lost the prize to the French in the Kooky McCrazy department. It doesn't take much thought when a german cashier rings up ninety-five. It´s "fünfundneunzig". EASY. In France, the teller prattles off "quatre-vingt-dix cinq" in an already crowded language where the battle shouldn't be what the hell number they're trying to obtain from me.

I am also glad to know that the ß symbol is actually just a stressed 'S' sound. Take Lippestrauße for instance. I would have pronounced it, Lip-eh-strawb. Yanno, instead of Lip-eh-strausse as I do now.

I also don't believe I mentioned that in my last few days of France, President Sarkozy revealed that hackers had stolen money from his bank account. France lol'd at his misfortune. Here's a quick blurb that doesn't give you any more info than I just gave you, but will allow you to dig deeper if you so desire. It was the first article in the search engine results.

I never realized how involved the rest of the world is with United States politics until this trip. I had always heard, but never grasped it. On any given day, altleast two people will recognize my accent and ask if I am from America. When I say yes it is always followed by, "How long are you traveling?" This is never to be taken as a light-hearted bridge to fun conversation. I know as well as they know that it's an election year and that I'm traveling during this time. I reluctantly tell them I will probably be here through December, (which is what they were getting at), and they immediately pounce on the "HOW ARE YOU GOING TO VOTE?" kick. I explain that I don't have a permanent address right now and that an absentee ballet wouldn't get here. Frowns and head shakes preclude the inevitable "if Obama loses, America is doomed" speech. This goes into a slew of questions into my thoughts on both platforms and yadda yadda that I haven't paid any attention to. In the end, the only thing coming from it is the perpetuation of the Ignorant American stereotype. All of you at home should thank me for representing you so well.

Dortmund, while not the most picturesque of towns, ended up being entirely worthwhile. Irini (23) and her flatmates Janine and Babette were among the most laidback of the hosts I've run into thusfar. From the get go, Irini baked a cake for us before leaving for her boyfriend's the first night, and Babette was already at her own. It was a major plus to find that Janine didn't mind hanging out with a strange boy for an evening. She said that while she thought the idea of Couch Surfing was amazing, she couldn't see herself doing it. First flatmate I've encountered that hasn't immediately created an account after seeing its potential.

I actually just realized in looking back at that paragraph that I've been using 'flatmate' instead of 'roomate'. This is due to everyone I've encountered learning British English as opposed to American English.... it kind of rubs off after awhile.

Anyhow... most of my first nacht here, (Monntag) was typical. Basically, exploring the downtown after all the shops had closed to see what I'd like to check into the following day. My excitement for the following day keep rising as I saw flyers for 31Knots on every other building. Since Irini would be off at her boyfriend's, she had offered her bed for the evening. After having slept on couches, air matresses, and futons for the last few weeks, it was my utmost pleasure to sleep on something so fantastically wonderful. The following morning (Dienstag) Janine had offered to leave me alone in the apartment while she was at work. But as I would not like to take the fall if the cat's intestinal tract spontaneously filled with air and burst, or the flat was suddenly infested with roaches and had to be bug bombed for the further duration of my stay. Thus, I left when she did. More downtownery ensued. Some of you realized that I had found a T-Mobile hotspot in the shopping district and called you. For those I didn't call, I apologize. It's really difficult to manage the time difference. By the time I was done with but a few calls, it would already be time for you to work, or you'd already be asleep. Plus, I don't want to spend all my time on the phone, as much as I love hearing all your lovely voices.

Eventually I made it to the grocery store for the night's meal. Brussel sprouts (Askercole? in German) was 1.20€/kilo. 2.2 pounds of sprouts for so cheap? A wonderous thing. Thus, when I joined up with Janine and Babette after work, I slapped together a quick meal of spaghetti, mashed potatoes, askercole, and a bottle of wine based off the neatest picture. At first, Janine declined the sprouts due to having overdone them when she was growing up. Babette had cooked ravioli for herself only to find it contained meat and put it back in the refrigerator. I'd prepared enough just in case, and was kind of glad of Babette's misfortune. She ate everything except for the spaghetti (due to it's equally meaty nature), and Janine came around on the askercole. The gals had asked me before I left the States if I could bring them some American food. After pondering a bit, I came to the conclusion that Almond Roca was probably the best bet. This is due to not only being American, but based out of Tacoma, Washington. I brought a 9 ounce package, as for one, I really didn't have much room in my backpack, and two, I really didn't know what would and wouldn't make it through customs. (As it would turn out, other than the metal detectors in the States, I didn't get searched for possible prohibited goods.) When Irini made it home, I felt it was time to show them the goods. I apologized before hand, as American chocolate always gets a bad rap and not to expect too much. But as it turns out, they absolutely loved it. It was then off to see the concert I was in Dortmund to see.

I made it to FZW around 8:30 and was pretty content with the turnout. About 30 or 40 people in the bar area. I had kind of expected that, as 31Knots is from Portland, Oregon and probably didn't have as good of a following as I'd earlier perceived. I wallflowered myself next to the table with the merch gals, and eagerly awaited for the curtain behind them to open. This however, would never come to fruition. I noticed as it drew closer to neun, that there was an excessive amount of traffic coming from what I'd accepted as a door to the outside. This was a mistake on my part. I was all, "yo merchie, what be going on over therre?" to the merch gal. She be all, "dang son, there is some ish going down in therre." I was all, "word?" and she be all "wooooord." Translation.... neither of us talked like that, and it was the door to the concert hall.

Upon opening the door, I came to find a room around the same size as Seattle's: El Corazon and filled with people. If I could make a quick estimate I would say there for vier or fünfhundert die leute. (Four or five hundred people... if I'm picking this language up correctly.) This was more of what I'd expected. And on a Tuesday night? Not bad ladies and gentlemen. The opener was a project by Joe Lally, and as gathered from the flyers, a former member of the defunct band Fugazi. I, nor anyone was really enthralled with the 30+ minutes of monotonous droning. With his highschool lyrical skills, and zest for chorus rock, I was not entirely enthralled with how it started off. Lally finished with a solo acapella piece in the middle of an audience trying to subdue their snickering and eyerolls, and called it a night. Yeah, it's gutsy and all on his part. But from what I gathered from his stage presence and the way he spoke of things, he was kind of a toolbag. And if by some random chance this gets back to Mr. Lally that some random jerk on the internet hates his music, well I am sorry good sir but you really should not have left your job at NASA when you did. Just sayin'.

In between bands, I heard something familar on the stereo overhead... would this be Minus the Bear's "The Game Needed Me"? Hecksters yes it was! Sooo eerie and awesome to hear Seattle music so far from home. I was most definitely back in concert mode and ready to take on the evening.

Here's the run down on Portland's 31Knots. Take a trio, give them hints of the following bands: Yes, Hella, Minus the Bear, Don Caballero, (some have also said the vocals of Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock), and a synthesizer and you have a slight idea. The music, as much as some of you hate the term, is very commonly described as math rock. For those of you oldies :) that aren't up to speed, here's a sample of 31Knots music and a wikipedia.org article describing math rock.

Joe Haege wore a bag over his head as he entered the stage, singing the first song entirely in the blind. As customary of a 31Knots set, he managed to make 4 or 5 costume changes between songs. Take their song "Savage Boutique" for instance. In the last year or so started wearing this paper devil mask everytime they played the song. On this particular Dienstag, the mask was nearly at its end. Crumpled from the thousands of miles and tens and hundreds of shows played. It also seems that the only time his transforms himself into a full sailor's outfit is when he's got 'captain' somewhere in his lyrics and has some sort of mock speech to give. Above all else, the second song they played was "Darling, I". I about scheisse'd in my trousers. It is one of my favorite songs, and it was the first time hearing it live. Among other favorites played were "Welcome to Stop" and "ManBecomeMe". The sound equipment was on point. The Germans were dancing and wildly into it, and the energy most certainly ascended to the stage. I could not have asked for a more beautiful set. I can certainly understand why 31Knots spends so much time playing Europe. Among it being awesome to travel all the time in of itself, the fact that the fans are so much more loyal and lively is a gift in of itself.

Afterwards, I picked up their new cd and vinyl (31Knots' 9th and 10th releases to date) at ridiculous euro prices. (These, along with childrens books in French and German are my only souvenirs I've felt worthwhile to get thusfar.) I felt that the members would appreciate talking with someone from close to back home, so I made my way out to where the bassist and drummer were (who both just so happened to be named Jay) and talked of travel and briefly exchanged tips. They sincerely knew where Steilacoom is due to frequently passing signs on I-5. Thus, they achieved bonus points. I wished them luck when they play in Köln (Cologne) this week and went about my way.

This morning I did breakfast with Irini briefly before she sent me off with more cake and some hardboiled eggs to munch on. While she seemed kind of stand offish the first day we met, she surely came around and was an absolute pleasure to exchange ideas with. She has invited me to a Halloween party on the 1st of November. So if I'm anywhere near Frankfurt, as I probably will due to joining up with my travel partner Katie on the 27th, I have a place to get down and get funky. I should be on my way to Essen today very shortly to attend Internationale Spieltage, the biggest and baddest in game board conventions. It starts on Donnerstag, but I'd like to be there today so I can find my bearings.

Again, pardon my spelling as this is merely from memory.

English - Français - Deutsch

night - nuit - nacht
day - jour - tag
hello - bonjour - gütentag or hallo (more commonly hallo, as gütentag is reserved for the formal)
sixty-one - soixante et un - einsundsechszig
game - jeu - spiel
i would like - je voudrais - ich möchte
please - s'il vous plait - bitte
thank you - merci - danke
ticket - billet - fahrkarten
stamp - timbre - briefmarke
next - prochain - nachste
train - train - zug (I knew this one from the German version of Ticket to Ride, called (Zug um Zug)
goodbye - au revoir - tchüsse
shit - merde - sheisse (I just had to throw this one in there)
bread - pain - brot

DAYS OF THE WEEK

monday - lundi - monntag
tuesday - mardi - dienstag
wednesday - mercredi - mittwoch
thursday - vendredi - donnerstag
friday - jeudi - frietag
saturday - samedi - samstag
sunday - dimanche - sonntag

If you notice with the German word for sixty-one, it´s reverse of ours. "one and six", as it is with all of their numbers after 12.

eins (1)
zwei
drei
vier (pronounced 'fear')
fünf (probably my favorite) (5)
sechs
sieben
acht
neun (pronounced as we do)
zehn (10)
elf
zwolf
dreizehn
vierzehn
fünfzehn (15)
sechszehn
siebszehn
achtzehn
neunzehn
zwanzig (20)
einsundzwanzig [one and twenty]
zweiundzwanzig (22)

etcetera

English / Français / Deutsch

thirty / treinte / dreißig
forty / quarante / vierzig
fifty / cinquante / fünfzig
sixty / soixante / sechzig
seventy / soixante-dix (meaning 60 + 10)/ seibzig
eighty / quatre-vingt (literally meaning 'four twenties') / achtzig
ninety / quatre-vingt-dix (literally meaning 'four twenties plus 10') / neunzig
one hundred / cent / hundert

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