The Schiller Cast of Characters

Throughout my posts, I'll be making references to all the cool people here at Schiller, so I figured I should make a concise info list so people don't wonder who I'm talking about :)  I'll probably be adding to it as I get to know people better.

The second paragraphs under people's names are additions I've made on March 15th since I've gotten to know everyone better. There are also some new characters lol.

Kae Lani- One of first people I met at Schiller and one of the girls I went to dinner with the first night. She's from New Jersey and is also here as a study abroad student for one semester. I hang out with her and her roommate Taylor most often. She's awesome and very sweet. She also wants to travel a lot like me so now I'll always have someone to go with!

Taylor- The other girl I went to dinner with the first night. She's from Maryland (woot!) but has lived in the state of Thüringen here in Germany for the past two years. Her German is awesome and she is our translator in most situations lol. She's a great girl too and is taking most of the same classes I am. She'll be here for a while as she's just starting college.

Gregor- I met Gregor my first Friday here at O'Reilly's. He's from Puerto Rico and is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. He hangs out a lot with me, Kae Lani, and Taylor. This is his second semester here so he knows a lot of stuff about the city, which is very helpful. He comes with us when we go grocery shopping for the food co-op to help carry everything, such a gentleman.

Gregor is one of my best friends. Not just here, but in my life. He is crazy, funny and always makes me laugh if I'm having a rough day. He has a mild obsession with Lady Gaga that he is proud of and it brings the rest us great amusement when he dances to one of her songs. He is one of my favorite people to hang out with and as soon as I hear his distinctive knock on my door, I know hilarity is about to ensue.

Martin- Martin is the guy who drove me and the girls to Cafe Gecko the first night. He's from Slovakia but spent nine years at an American school in Vienna so his English is great. He went to that school with the kids of many European ambassadors and has lots of stories about their antics there. He's a great guy and likes to buy rounds of drinks for whoever from Schiller is in the vicinity of the bar with him. I'm not sure how long he's been here, but he's going to school for fun because he already has a degree.

Martin is straight up crazy. But in a good way lol. He is usually the one to plan the night's events and is always up for getting drinks to pregame with at the dorms. He has many crazy opinions and is always outspoken, but I feel like a lot of it is just hot air. When I jokingly mentioned that I wanted to burn the Atlanta airport to the ground because it was there that my friend Siobhan's flight got canceled and thus she couldn't come visit me, he was all set to finance the mission. He's also obsessed with cars, and it's hilarious to hear him slam all the different brands. Most of the guys here are obsessed with cars, I don't see the fascination...

(new!)Stephanie- Steph is Martin's girlfriend and I don't know how she puts up with him. She is a very nice girl and hangs in Yvonne and Vanessa's room when she is on campus, so I only see her when we go out or if I happen to be in their room when she drops by. She went to a car show in Geneva a few weeks ago with Martin, Jascha, and Cody so I'm not sure how she still has her sanity lol.

The Twins- Nargiz and Narmin are from Azerbaijan and they are the cutest things. This is also their second semester here. They're only 17 and are so sweet to everyone. They love to cook and have shown us some great recipes. They live next to Kae Lani and Taylor and apparently giggle incessantly. I still can't tell them apart though :)

I have been able to tell the twins apart for several weeks now lol. They are still sweet as candy and often have everyone in their room for "tea parties" where we have straight black tea and a variety of delicious jams.

Jascha- Jascha (pronounced Yah-sha) is from Michigan and lives next to me in the dorm. He's also very nice and likes to out with all of us. He's a returning student too.

Jascha is a great guy and is a lot of fun to hang out with. He's pretty chivalrous and usually buys me at least one drink when we're out. I'll also correct what I said before: he is actually German and has lived all over the world. He most recently lived in Michigan and goes to school there. He is obsessed with a Turkish snack that is very popular here called döner. It's like a pita shell stuffed with meat, veggies, and some sort of sauce. He and Siggy will go get them at all hours of the night because these things are apparently open 24/7. Actually, a lot of people get them after a night of carousing ;)  Maybe that's why they think they taste so good...

Dan- Dan is Jascha's roommate. He goes to High Point University but is also from Maryland. Amazingly enough, he went to high school with a guy who goes to MDub and was in my management class last semester! The world sure is small. He's a first time student here like me.

Angela- Angela is from Switzerland and unfortunately has to go home to work every weekend so she can almost never come out with us. She's a very friendly girl who looks a lot like my sister, but with thick Dolce & Gabbana glasses. She's helped us out in the market a few times by knowing which brands are best and what all the German means.

Yvonne- I met Yvonne on the shuttle here but haven't seen too much of her since. She's come out with us a couple times though. She's also from New Jersey and is very nice and helped me out a lot when I first got here.

Yvonne is one of my favorite people here and is super nice. She and Vanessa watch a lot of movies in their room and frequently invite me to join them. She goes out with the group of us a lot and is a lot of fun.

(new!) Vanessa- Is an awesome girl and Yvonne's roommate. I don't see her much because she lives in Frankfurt from Thurs-Mon morning with her bf in their apartment. She is a lot of fun and very down to earth so I enjoy talking to her. I really want to hang out with her more before I leave.

Cody- The guy who came with me and the girls on our castle trip. This is his second semester too and he lives in an apartment building just off the Hauptstraße. Quite a convenient location for friends who don't want to have to go all the way back to Schiller after a fun filled night! Unfortunately, he is a Dallas fan so clearly he's had to overcome many obstacles in life as a result.

Jake- Jake lives off the Hauptstraße too so he's not on campus very much. He's the one who helped me carry my biggest suitcase up the stairs, God love him. I found out he's 26 and used to be in the Air Force, so I guess he's getting a late start on the college thing.

Xenab- The roommate. She's from Morocco and smokes like a chimney. She loves to party and goes out just about every night. She seems nice enough, but I'm keeping my guard up for the time being. Also, I think she broke my hairdryer.

Ok, so her name is actually spelled Zineb. All of the above info is true except for a modification: she is very nice and generous to a fault. Her mom bought her a Chanel handbag and when I was admiring it, she said I could borrow it anytime. This is a 3000 euro purse we're talking about! She's pretty crazy sometimes but she just wants to have fun. This is her first taste of independence so she's diving in head first. We don't really hang out that much in the dorm but get along really well.

Aaron- Aaron is from Miami and speaks excellent German and Spanish. I'm jealous of his language skills. He likes to use those skills to speak to the native Germans at school and to Gregor in Spanish. However, sometimes he's rude about it because once it was just me, him, and Gregor and the kitchen and he started rattling off in Spanish, which I of course don't speak. The jury's still out on him.

Aaron, or Siggy (a nickname he gave himself), is an odd bird. He still does the annoying language thing where he excludes people by speaking other languages. I confronted him about it with Kae Lani as back-up and he didn't see how it was rude. He is also obsessed with döner, which is good but not what the boys crack it up to be. He loves calling Gregor "Fez" because he thinks he looks like Fez off That 70s Show. Gregor hates it though and everyone else has laid off except Siggy. It would take up too much space to list all the things about Siggy that are off-putting so I'll leave it at that.

The Egyptians- There is a group of like 3 or 4 guys from Egypt and I only know one of them by name, Tarik. They spend all day it seems in Tarik's room because he has a huge TV, video games, and lots of weed. When Tarik is inebriated he goes around telling people he's the prince of Egypt. That story would be convincing if Egypt had a monarchy. Xenab has spent a lot time in that room so far :/

Tarek is actually a super nice guy but I never see him because he is always in his room. Also, he rarely comes out with us. The other guy is named Ahmed and I've literally spoken like 4 words to him because he is always in Tarek's room as well and never goes out with us.

(new!) Araceli- Is from Minnesota and lives with a family up near the castle so we don't see her very much. She's good friends with Gregor and since she is of Mexican heritage and speaks fluent Spanish they like to chat in Espanol. Last month I had a class with her and we went out to lunch a few times. I also went on a trip to the zoo with her, the twins, and Taylor. She seems very nice, but recently her true colors as a gossip queen are starting to come out.

(new!) Johanna- Oh boy where to begin. Johanna is another odd bird, but not in an obnoxious way like Siggy. The general consensus is that she's not exactly playing with a full deck of cards. She only eats two things ever, pasta and frozen chicken cordon bleu. When she cooks the pasta, she leaves half of it in the pot burned to the bottom and then lets it sit in the kitchen for days. She is absolutely obsessed with Gregor, much to his dismay, and is constantly asking people if they've seen him. She's from Columbia and loves to talk to him in Spanish. She never lets anyone in her room because apparently it's a disaster area. Yvonne and Gregor have caught glimpses when she leaves the room and the door is left cracked and can vouch for the messiness. She's a very nice girl but only talks to people about how their class was, what they're going to cook, and have they seen Gregor lol.