the online journal of jordan e.

Must do laundry.
Frau Bartsch, the landlord lady, is the one and only who disperses Waschchips (laundry coins). Just yesterday Meagan and I discovered from a 6inch x 2inch note that Big B has already begun her Christmas vacation and won't be back until the new year. What the crap!?! In just a week we are leaving for Prague and then to London until the 5th and I don't have enough pairs of socks to get me through the weekend.

In other news, the second Lord of the Rings movie is out and some people (Tom, Tom, Tom) seem to really like it. The entire trilogy happened to be passed down to me here, though they are auf Deutsch. If I feel ready for the challenge and have a good dictionary by my side, I might try reading them. But as for the movie...I may just wait until London to see it.

posted by Jordan @ 9:07 fm

At approximately 8:03pm on Saturday night, as I was trying to figure out my roomie's scanner, there was a ring at our door. I opened it up to find a note hanging from a long piece of tape. In Number 2 pencil it stated,
Dear Jordan, Please help! The evil Marsian, Marv Muffanman, has stolen our national treasure - the Magic Spekulatius. Please track this heinous thief. We believe
he is in cahoots with the Polish Pied-Pieper, Aggie Albetcha. She was last seen throwing apple peelings in your mailbox. Please hurry!
Desparately, Michael Berman.
I immediately knew that Corey was behind this and so I snickered a bit, threw it aside and began working once again feverishly on that darn scanner. However, at 8:27pm Corey came to my door claiming that he too had received a strange note and wanted to know if I got one, too. After showing him mine he suggested that I check my mailbox for additional evidence. Though protesting that he was a scheming liar, I checked it and found an envelope simply addressed to "Jordan." Inside a note read,
Dear Jorrdaan: It is not exactly the Twin Towers, but it dominates the Lobeda-West skyline. Your next clue lies at your sister's door.
Now demanding Corey to fess up, I still went to the other apartment building where I found an envelope taped to the door for "Jordänny." In it was written,
No doubt Boo-boo would be dissappointed if he was taken out of Jellystone, but his partner-in-crime seems to be doing quite well here...
So, to Yogi's Döner Shop we went, me badgering Corey the entire walk there, pressuring him to tell me the truth. He firmly claimed innocence, however - even while we stood in the doorway of Yogi's with the owner repeatedly asking us what we want. I finally spotted an envelope on the ground there for "Sheriminator" with a note that said,
Only in Germany! This place is a Puritan's nightmare. Pilgrams cast out idolists, but here their beauty is cast in steel...
"Very clever," I told Corey. "I'm very impressed with your work," I said as we walked to the naked, metal statues that stand near our building. I scanned the area for Corey-sized footprints and even compared the smell of the envelopes with the odor de Corey, but came to no conclusions and no had no choice but to grab the next envelope taped to the base of a statue. This one was for "Dr. Jordan, Master of Magic Salad (Medicine Woman)" and read,
Almost ready to receive your prize? Don't get too confident. Always watch your back. No...more importantly, heads up!
At a loss with this one and a bit worried that a sniper might appear from the roof of Janni's Eis Café, Corey said that "maybe" the last envelope was in his room on the 9th floor - hence the whole "heads up" thing.
We went up there to find a final envelope for "Dame Sherman," a paper crown and a lone Spekulatius (ginger cookie). The note said,
Come to Ali-Alster's to receive your knighthood!
At this point I begged Corey for the truth. He finally admitted that he had written those past notes, but only because he was told to and that he had no idea what was waiting at Ali-Alster's (a pub in Jena) for me.
So, we took Linie 35 to Ernst Abbe Platz, walked across the outdoor campus commons and into Ali-Alster's. The only ideas I had were: #1) the other Americans set this up and were hanging out there or #2) my family had flown in to surprise me for Christmas. But what did I find in the little pub? Nothing.
Corey offered the explanation: "I was really bored so I set up this scavenger hunt. Ali-Alster's was just a random place I found in my planner." Now here's the kicker: "It would have been good if there had actually been something here." Unbelievable!
As anti-climatic the end of that game was, I was truly impressed with the creativity it took and had fun on the pursuits for the next envelope. And since we were there, we found a table and each had a Rosen-Pils - actually my first beer in Germany (blech) and had a long, good talk.

posted by Jordan @ 7:50 fm

Yes, indeedy, this is bugging me. For some reason my posts are being published to the archives instead of the front page. Does anyone know how to fix this?
Nevermind, it's working now - thanks!

posted by Jordan @ 8:39 fm

My parents will probably faint when I say this, but the truth must be stated: I miss making my bed. But mostly, I miss sleeping in it.
Germans don't use a flat sheet or blankets. They are all about the feather bed and duvet cover. (Or in my case, a polyester blend with stains that our landlady, Frau Bartsch, claims was "recently" cleaned. Before or after the wall, Bartschy?) That means that there's nothing to tuck you in - you just drape a lumpy layer over you. So what happens when you wiggle around a bit or stretch your legs out? That's right, your feet come out the other end and you wake up with a heap of polyester blend on your chest.
And after your alarm clock rings and you say "Morgen" to your roomie, you make your bed. But there's no hope of getting a quarter to bounce off these covers - the deal is you just fold the thingy in half and leave it to lay below the gargantuan pillows they use. There is no satisfaction in that! I'm used to hauling in big sheets from the line, wrestling with the mattress, making hospital corners that Grandma taught me, folding over the pretty edge of the sheet and tucking in my pillows. And when you crawl into that sucker and pull the covers tight, it feels good. You can do aerobics while you're snoozing and still wake up tucked in.
So, in conclusion, I plead my brother Jonah, who has now made a comfy little burrow in my bed, to perserve that beloved place of slumber. I beg of you, don't perform body slams on it; shower at least once before entering the vicinity of it; and for the love of everything good, tuck in the sheets and tuck them in well. Someday, when you're studying abroad, you'll appreciate it.

posted by Jordan @ 7:56 fm

Three Ugandans, a Polish girl, two Germans, me and a girl from Belfast. When Alexa and I started up this Bible study we prayed that God would bless it and speak to all of us through it. Now, seven sessions later, we've had some amazing talks about God and some great bonds formed. He is always good!

posted by Jordan @ 8:41 fm

Weihnachtsmarkt anyone?
On Friday we headed back to Erfurt to check out the place at night. The rest of the group decided to go on the enormous ferris wheel there and I was made to go with them despite my strong dislike of heights. On our first revolution, the ride stopped with us on the very top of this beast for about 5 minutes. Oh how they enjoyed watching me squeal as they opened and closed the flimsy doors and threatened to rock the car, which was hanging from what looked like just one, stripped screw. Needless to say, we made it down where I probably should have taken a Bayer aspirin for my overworked heart.
Saturday morning (at 6:30!!) we went with the foreign student organization to Nürnberg for, yes, yet another, Weihnachtsmarkt. Nürnberg is in Bavaria - half way to Munich for us and has supposedly the most renowned Weihnachtsmarkt in all of Germany. This is apparently no secret as the city was packed with everyone and their brother-in law. (Really, it was a case of jabbing elbows and checking shoulders in every walkway.)
The spread was very impressive. However, I have to say that once you see one Weihnachtsmarkt, you've pretty much seen them all. Every one has the basic Glühwein (hot, mulled wine), Lebkuchen (a sort of gingerbread cookie/cake) and gebrannt Nüssen (nuts with a hard, caramelly coating roasted on). One thing that I hadn't seen before Nürnberg was the wonderous 1/2 meter hot dog - that is some sausage! Lisa and I each bought one (really just for the picture). As we held up our proud 19.68 inch wursts, a woman from somewhere in the southern region of the great U.S. commented, "Now that is a big hot dog!" Indeed it was, and all I have to say is: never again.

posted by Jordan @ 7:34 fm

You know how sometimes you feel so good but you don't know why? And those other times when you feel so crappy that all you want to do is watch Maury Pouvich in complete solitude? Well, it just so happens that I feel better already. Thank you Lord. Is there any rhyme or reason to these emotional rollarcoasters, though? I know there must be, but I have yet to step back and see this bad boy in its entirety. Oh well. In your good time.

posted by Jordan @ 1:34 em

Meagan brought me to the Weihnachtsmarkt in Erfurt yesterday to show me just how big of a deal these things are in Germany. We took the train there, of course, and happened to sit next to some frisky elementary kids. While they snarfed down bread and Nutella, one of the demons figured out we were English speakers. It wasn't long before we heard, "What's your name?" three times in a row between fits of giggling. Thinking the little varmints were being cute, I leaned over Meagan and told them my name was "Jor-dan." Then I asked them how long they have studied English. After Goonie #1 said they had had really no English, Goonie#2 pulled out a tube of wrapping paper and began beating Meagan on the shoulder. As I was nearly peeing my pants from laughing, they beat her some more on the head and then turned to me. Goonie#2 held his beating stick and said, "Pitch." "Oh," I thought to myself, "they want to talk baseball!" Then he said, "Pitch heisst Schlampe." Ahh, I understood. He was no fan of Lou Gehrig - he was swearing at me. So, I sat back in my seat and waited for them to get tired of shouting "Pitch!" and "Schlampe!" (I think the counter hit at least 15). Meanwhile, a couple of their hombres had come along. We heard the customary "What's your name?" and then Meagan was beat one more time. We decided that we would pretend to get off a stop early and really just move to a different car. The minute we got out of our seats, however, another tube of wrapping paper was unveiled and we were showered with another round of smacks.
We did escape the varmints eventually and got a chance to explore Erfurt's Weihnachtsmarkt, which is really just a bunch of food and craft stands. Still, it's a big tradition around here so you have to check it out.
On another note, a couple of days ago I got a mysterious "secret santa gift" in my mailbox. It's a Jingle Cats "Meowy Christmas" cd. "Real cats singing Christmas songs," it boasts. Basically someone probably recorded Fluffy getting stepped on a few times and then changed the tone to put together tunes like, "Good King Wenceslas" and "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring."
Strange thing is, this is not my first encounter with "Meowy Christmas." Last summer Kelly Hickey and I were cruising around in her van and checking out the cassette collection underneath the seats. It wasn't long until we came across that same jewel of an album, **Jingle Cats.** It's pretty funny that that thing appeared in my box and to hear it is hilarious. However, even better is listening to Kelly Hickey sing along with those felines.

posted by Jordan @ 7:52 fm

Have any of you fellow Americans ever come across anything older than 400 years in our great Home of the Brave? (Native American arrowheads don't count, my friends. I 'found' those too when I was a kid - they are all just sharp rocks!!) I spent this past weekend at a castle in Mansfeld that was built in 1576 (1576?!?) and is on the grounds of land that has had castles since the 1000s (1000s?!?). That means that soldiers from the Crusades tread on that dirt, that the residents could smell the Bubonic Plague from their balconies and that they probably talked about Martin Luther like a hot topic over their breakfast wurst. In the States that sucker would be roped off, but Schloss Mansfeld is now used for Christian retreats. So Martha's parents, Waylon and Clemmie, flew in from Florida to lead one.
Dr. Moore is a seasoned pastor and has officially been in 100 different countries. He presented some very interesting material about the Holy Spirit, scripture memorization and the importance of mentoring. A lot of what he said was very helpful, but one thing that especially perked my ears was the translation of the Greek word for "filled." It actually means "controlled." This totally changes passages that tell us to be "filled" with the Holy Spirit. There's a lot more behind inviting the Holy Spirit than getting a warm feeling inside - we are supposed to submit ourselves and offer Him the joystick!
Martha's dad was no bore, either. At one point he broke into these international impersonations and did accents from around the world. Putting his glasses on upside down and talking about his island home in Singapore may have been a bit much, though.
I met some great people there, too. There was a couple from Australia, two other wonderful American girls and guy from Argentina and lots of fun Germans. It was nice to hear that the other Americans are struggling with some of the same things as me. One practically knows no German and has been put to the task of leading a ministry program in little Eisenach. Pray for her!
Good thing I was so focused on God on the way home because I rode with Lydia. She's a sweet girl, but she hit 180 km/hr on the Autobahn (that's approximately 112.5 miles per hour). Sweet Jesus take me home.

posted by Jordan @ 11:17 fm

(November 29, 2002)
The post holiday tummy ache has set in. I'm not sure if it was the cranberry relish or extra stuffing that brought it on, but I do know that there was plenty of food and I partook in the feasting.
Last night us seven Americans made a huge Thanksgiving meal and set up shop in the 4th floor elavator area. Though we had two turkeys, two pork roasts and a stuffed pig stomach (or as Corey, the proud Pennsylvanian would call, a "Pennsylvania Pocket") and every other kind of dish associated with the holiday, I was pretty worried that we wouldn't have enough for the 50 person crowd we hosted. (There were roomies, friends of roomies, other foreign students, German friends and more packed in the landing.)
I also contributed 5 pies to the spread. I made two pumpkin, two apple and a custard, though something went terribly wrong with the custard - it looked like it had a bad case of leprosy. Meagan and Corey offered to pay me 10€ to eat it all, but I couldn't choke down that pile of crusty scrambied eggs. The other pies were eaten up despite the fact that I told all the Germans that pumpkin pie is made with "Körper" (human body) instead of "Kürbis" (pumpkin). The strange thing is, that erroneous ingredient didn't seem to phase them at all. In fact, the pumpkin pies were the first to go - what kind of sickos am I living with here, people?

posted by Jordan @ 9:50 fm