playing: Le Tigre- Well, Well, Well

In an effort to put off preparing my fifteen minute presentation on baseball, I've decided to blog. Yes, my priorities are still straight as a ruler even while I'm abroad.

The past couple of days seem like just one big day. Thursday we had our first test. I didn't think it'd be too hard and thankfully, I was right. I didn't, however, remember the first names of Goethe and Schiller. Oh well, I'm not gonna beat myself up over it like this other guy in my class. I almost wanted to say, "Fuckin' nut up and get over it. It was two damn points." but if I wanna win the Fine Upstanding Citizen of the Year award for the fourth time in a row, I better keep thoughts like that to myself.

That night we went to Black Music Night! I don't think we've ever been so excited to hear so much hip hop and r+b music in the span of three hours. It's kinda funny that it's a special theme night because back home, that's like any regular night at the club. Anyway, Savoy has two floors but it only used the basement because apparently, Black Music Night isn't as appealing as Uni Night when they play "Walkin' on Sunshine" and German pop rock.

We finally wised up and got drunk before going to the club instead of buying cocktails at the bar. Of course, Vivian and I weren't wise enough to not wear stilettos. While we were walking to Savoy, this guy taking out his trash was trying to get his mac on. How attractive does he think he is that he can pick up on some girls while taking out garbage? And because we were drunk, our conceit level was sky high and we kept saying, "Does he know who the fuck we are? We're the fucking Plastiks!"

We've been referred to as the Plastiks a few times. At first we were a little offended but now we've totally embraced it. I don't really think we fit the Plastik mold but I guess it's cuz we're clique-ish.

Anyway, we got home at like 3:30am and probably got about an hour and a half of sleep because we had to go on a field trip to Weimar. I woke up still drunk. o_O Every half hour on the bus, Elke, the program director for ILP would yell something on the loudspeaker about the scenery. At one point I just pulled the curtain over the window and said, "fuck the scenery."

We took tours of Schiller and Goethe's houses. It was very interesting. Schiller actually had a threesome with his wife and her sister and Vivian and I were trying to figure out which bed they did it on because all of them were so tiny. haha Weimar is a very small town but so historical. It was where the first German government was established. Very exciting, I know. Later we went to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Needless to say, I left feeling very heavy hearted. It was too much to take in with so little sleep. =(

At night we had some Döners since we were totally craving some ever since we had left Savoy. Sure, it was probably my seventh one since I've been here but it tasted like heaven.

Well, I think that's enough dicking around for now. If I wanna impress Herr Dröscher, I better get cracking on that Powerpoint presentation.

Tchüss!

playing: Iron & Wine- Such Greath Heights (Postal Service cover)

stolen from Cindy's Yahoo! photos:

playing: Postal Service- The District Sleeps Alone Tonight

So I didn't end up going to Berlin. =( I had to wait for stupid FedEx to come and give me a package from my mom. I tracked the package and it said that the estimated delivery time was 8pm so I decided to nap until 7pm. So it's 8:30pm and no sign of FedEx. I track it again online and it says that they came while I was sleeping! I was PISSED. And because Europeans don't believe in working non-stop, FedEx doesn't operate on Saturdays so I won't be getting my package until tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be in my room and NOT sleeping.

Saturday I spent some good 'ol fashioned quality time with Wilhelm. We saw a movie called "Somersault: Wie Parfuem". We were wondering how much of it we'd be able to understand but it turned out, it was an Australian movie with German subtitles. =( The movie totally sucked. It was about some slutty girl and her sexcapades. Too many boobs for my taste. I was, however, able to learn some new vocabulary though so it wasn't a complete loss.

Then we had dinner at some Gasthaus and then some ice cream. =) Later we went to El Sol and had some cocktails. Thanks for hanging out with me and filling me in on the latest EAP gossip. =)

I had a lot of time to myself this weekend. Time to think, reflect, drive myself crazy... I listened to this emo mix Michael gave me before I left. I love it. I can relate to a lot of the songs. Especially "First of the Gang to Die". just kidding. ;o) Oh Michaelangelo, you know me so well.

Got my phone bill today... 36 euros which is equivalent to about $44. Ahhhhh! Hopefully, it won't be that expensive next time since I don't talk to Peter anymore. I haven't been charged for the 40mins that Amy and I talked. I'm nervous about that bill... =(

Well, if I wanna stay awake in Herr Droescher's class, I better get to bed. Bis dann!

Quick update:

• Went to Ikea in Kassel two days ago. Turned out that they don't accept American credit cards so we got cleaned out of cash.
• Took the free train to and from Göttingen. It took an hour each way but hey, it was free.
• Met some guy named Fabian on the way back. We managed to talk for an hour despite our rudimentary German and English, respectively.
  
• Went to Uni night again at Savoy. It wasn't as fun because they were playing some funky ass music.
• Towards the end they started playing cool 80's music. I got a real kick out of hearing Germans sing along to Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"
• Went to ILP super dead and couldn't stay awake for the life of me.
  
• Later got the worst allergy attack of my life
• When I got home, I realized I left my medicine back in San Francisco =/
• Today Cindy, Kate, Erika, Vivian and I leave for Berlin!
  

p.s. I was talking to Vivian yesterday and she was telling me how she's had bad experiences with friends and roommates. I just wanna say that I am very grateful to have the most awesome comrades and roomies on Earth!

playing: Journey- Don't Stop Believin'

Today has been pretty rough. My bank in the US is giving me all kinds of grief. I want to punch someone. I've wasted all these minutes on my phone. As if all those other calls I made last week weren't bad enough. Moreover, I wasted time. An hour of my life I will NEVER get back.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Dietmar, the guy I bought a bike from, asked me for 60 euros instead of 50 because he worked on it for a really long time. Whatever though, I don't have the heart to say no to Fahrradman (bikeman).

I had a dream that I got into the second highest language class, which is called ILP (intensive language program). Guess what! I did. Yeah, I'm thinking of starting my own psychic hotline to make some dough on the side. Well, okay, so there are only three levels but still.

I'm taking this whole "break" thing a little harder than I thought. I mean, it's not affecting my performance in ILP. I'd do shitty there under ANY circumstance. haha It's just sometimes I wanna say, "What the hell are we doing? This is SO STUPID."

In other news, tomorrow we are going to Ikea! I'm not sure what I'm going to buy yet but we shall see. Then later we're going out at night for some debauchery partaking. It'll be quite a doozy showing up to ILP hungover. I can barely stay awake in there sober. =(

Well, I told myself I'd get up early to ride my bike around and do homework so the dicking around stops now. Hope everyone is doing well. I miss you all and wish you were here to wear thick northface jackets with scarves and gloves with me in the summer!

Well, it has been exactly one week since I've been in Germany. I'm having lots of fun. =) Everyone is really nice. Our orientators, Judith and Catharina are so awesome. Judith is this sweet girl and Catharina is a little sass. I love it! The other UC people are cool too. I mostly hang out with the people from my dorm because the other people live kinda far.

Oh yeah, we have to walk EVERYWHERE. The walk to downtown is at least 20 mins and we go there everyday. But I'm going to get a bike on Tuesday. It doesn't really help that I'm the worst bike rider in the world. =/ I'm determined to learn though. I'm gonna practice really late at night to save face. haha

Of course, in Europe the drinking age is 18 so we've been to a few bars and such. It's really great to not be hassled for an ID. Wednesday night we had cocktails at some place called El Sol. Instead of free nachos, they gave popcorn. Some salty ass popcorn at that. So I ordered nachos and daaaaaamn they were really good. So worth my 4,60 euros. lol Then we went to some mainstream/techno club. They played some random ass music. They'd go from like Nelly to Grease's "Summer Lovin'" I'm not gonna lie, I loved it! Unfortunately, Europeans were not built with the rhythm gene. I'd bet good money that we were droppin' it like it was hot better than anyone else. haha What's cool though is that they totally don't care. They're just out to have a good time. Guys will just dance with their other guy friends. That shit totally wouldn't happen in the U.S.

Friday we had a scavenger hunt and me being the competitive SOB that I am kept taunting the other teams like, "We're in it to win it, bitches!" Of course, we won. =) The prize was a bottle of vodka and some powder stuff that you take before drinking the vodka. It was a cool concept but nasty as hell. Before that we had to take a few swigs of champagne and take a tequila shot. Then I had a few drinks at this bar and the reggae club we went to after that. I definitely drank waaaaaaay too much. I've been told that Vivian and I harlem shook and c-walked. haha I don't even remember the last time I c-walked. I also ran up my cell phone bill. =( I called Amy and spoke ENTIRELY in German. Why I was incapable of speaking English, I will never know. She didn't even believe it was me. She was like, "This isn't Janelle, her German isn't that good." Thanks for the faith, Amy.

The next day we went on a field trip for some miner celebration. It wasn't the most exciting thing ever but Jesus H. Christ the bratwurst was good. Then we visited this place with a bunch of mini castle replicas. After that we visited some town that was built by French protestants. We were told that we'd be able to tell that it was built by them but I honestly had no idea what to look for. I don't even know how a catholic would build a city.

I've done a little shopping here and there. I got myself some awesome cowboy boots for only 50 euros and a heart purse for 3 euros! I also went to H+M and got a shirt, some ostentatious earrings and a hat that makes me look like Paddington Bear. The night we went to the reggae club, I wore my hat and people kept on taking it from me. =( At the end of the night it was all sweaty and molested looking. I was pretty sad but thankfully, it's machine wash safe. PHEW.

Apparently, I scream American here. I met two people today and before I even said a word, they'd ask me if I was from America. AW. I also met this guy who is leaving in a week and he told me he was going to have a party. You know what he said?! "Maybe I'll invite you." and I'm thinking, "Maybe I won't come, ass!" But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he wasn't still trying to assess whether I'm cool enough or not.

In the midst of all this fun, I've had to deal with a little drama that I thought would be over with the minute I stepped on the plane to Frankfurt. But everything has been squared away and taken care of. I am, however, feeling quite emo. Dashboard is on heavy rotation. Sometimes doing the right thing hurts like a butt. But I know it's for the best. Right now I just need to take in this whole experience, milk it for all its worth and not worry about bullshit.

Wow, that was really long. Well, here is the link to my photos! http://flickr.com/photos/jzbiserra

Hope everyone is doing fine, dandy and safe!