Here's a fun filled week.

Oh Gott

WHEN GIRLS DRINK TOO MUCH:

1. I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHERE MY PURSE IS.
2. I BELIEVE THAT DANCING WITH MY ARMS OVERHEAD AND WIGGLING MY BUTT WHILE YELLING "WOO-HOO!" IS TRULY THE SEXIEST DANCE MOVE AROUND.
3. I'VE SUDDENLY DECIDED I WANT TO KICK SOMEONE'S ASS AND HONESTLY BELIEVE I COULD DO IT TOO.
4. IN MY LAST TRIP TO PEE, I REALIZE I NOW LOOK MORE LIKE A HOMELESS HOOKER THAN THE GODDESS I WAS JUST FOUR HOURS AGO.
5. AT 3AM “LET’S GO EAT” IS THE ONLY WAY TO GET ME OUT OF THE CLUB.
6. I START CRYING & TELLING EVERYONE I SEE THAT I LOVE THEM SOOO MUCH.
7. I GET EXTREMELY EXCITED & JUMP UP AND DOWN EVERY TIME A NEW SONG PLAYS BECAUSE "OH MY GOD! I LOVE THIS SONG!"
8. THE MAN I'M FLIRTING WITH KNOWS ALL THE GIRLS I DON‘T LIKE.
9. THE URGE TO TAKE OFF ARTICLES OF CLOTHING, STAND ON A TABLE AND SING OR DANCE BECOMES STRANGELY OVERWHELMING.
10. MY EYES JUST DON'T SEEM TO WANT TO STAY OPEN ON THEIR OWN SO I KEEP THEM HALF CLOSED AND THINK IT LOOKS EXOTICALLY SEXY.
11. I'VE SUDDENLY TAKEN UP SMOKING AND BECOME REALLY GOOD AT IT.
12. I YELL AT THE BARTENDER, WHO (I THINK) CHEATED ME BY GIVING ME JUST LEMONADE, BUT THAT'S JUST BECAUSE I CAN NO LONGER TASTE THE GIN.
13. I THINK I'M IN BED, BUT MY PILLOW FEELS STRANGELY LIKE THE KITCHEN FLOOR
14. I START EVERY CONVERSATION WITH A BOOMING, "DON'T TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY BUT..."
15. I FAIL TO NOTICE THAT THE TOILET LID'S DOWN WHEN I SIT ON IT.
16. MY HUGS BEGIN TO RESEMBLE WRESTLING TAKE-DOWN MOVES.
17. I'M SO TIRED THAT I’LL JUST SIT ON THE FLOOR OR WHEREVER I HAPPEN TO BE STANDING.
18. ALL OF A SUDDEN I KNOW THE LYRICS TO ALL RAP SONGS
19. I TAKE MY SHOES OFF BECAUSE I BELIEVE IT'S “THEIR” FAULT THAT I'M HAVING PROBLEMS WALKING STRAIGHT.
20. GETTING HAPPY BECAUSE I JUST REALIZED I TOOK DRUNKEN PICTURES OF EVERYONE!

Deutschland sucht den Superstar

This weekend I found myself surrounded by a bunch of American Idol wannabes. Saturday morning I went to the gym and the guy on the cycling machine was singing along to the radio. It's quite difficult to get your Precor on when there's some middle-aged German man singing "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson with so much ebullience. I couldn't even get through my book despite my being a voracious reader.

Later that day I was in the kitchen with Nan, some guy from China. I've only spoken to him once and our conversation went like this but in German.

me: Would you like a brownie? I made them myself.
Nan: Thanks.
me: Are you new?
Nan: No.
me: What's your name?
Nan: Nan.
me: Where are you from?
Nan: China.
me: Cool, see ya later.
Nan: Bye.

As displayed above, the guy isn't a talker but boy, does he LOVE to scat. I was in the kitchen for about half an hour and after the routine "Hallo", he just scatted away. He didn't seem to care that I was there. But really? Why should he? He's not hurting anyone but personally, I wouldn't scat if someone else was in the room. It got me thinking, "Why doesn't he want to talk to me? Why would he rather scat than carry a conversation with a charming, dark American girl who speaks rudimentary German?"

For the most part, I think I'm a great conversationalist. Hmph.

I stayed in last night because I was really burnt out from the day's events. Going to the gym, the library and running errands can be very taxing on one's energy. Anyway, as I was passing by the Dusche (shower), I overheard one of the guy's singing at the top of their lungs. I really wanted to find out who it was but deemed it weird to wait outside of the Dusche until the person came out. I also realized that if I found out who it was, there would be no way that I'd be able to look at them the same again. At first I thought it was Nan but then I discovered that he was in the Tagesraum eating whatever he slaved over in the kitchen while scatting.

When I returned to my room I realized that a lot of people just sing in public here. It's definitely weird (especially for the people around you if you can't carry a tune) but I appreciate that the Germans have no inhibitions. Guys dance with each other at clubs (sometimes on poles) and Kristian has a basket on the front of his bike.

This week flew past me... But I'm not complaining because that means I'm only getting closer to winter vacation! Woooooo skiing in Switzerland! It's gonna be weird not being with family but I'm happy to be spending it with people like Michele, Cindy and Jen.

On Monday I had to sort out my phone bill so I called the company and no agent could speak English. I finally gave in and attempted to speak in German. At the end of our conversation, instead of getting some of the charges docked off like I had planned, I had agreed to move my bill due date to Thursday. Or so I had thought... The next day my phone was cut off. I called the company again and spoke to someone who knew English. Apparently, I agreed to split my payment into two and until I paid the second installment, my phone would be cut off. I don't remember having that conversation with the woman but I did. My German is so bad that I can't even dispute a bill.

Anyway, I had to go to the actual store to dispute my bill where I accomplished knocking off a little more than 10 euros. Making big eyes and saying, "ICH VERSTEHE DAS NICHT. GAR NICHTS. ÜBERHAUPT NICHTS. (I DON'T GET IT. NOTHING AT ALL. NADA.)" very loudly is probably what did the job.

I told Kristian about my phone bill fiasco and offered to accompany me to the store. I told him I had it under control and he says, "Well, I still owe you five euros. When do you want it back?" What happened to saying, "Hey, let's hang out."? What's with tapdancing around what you wanna say? So we went to the Weihnachtsmarkt and had REALLY REALLY gross Glühwein with Bicardi and Cherries. Why would someone invent such a drink?

Thursday night I went to the Weihnachtsmarkt again to hang out with Herr Dröscher and Herr Beilein. Later we went to a bar, had a merry time blah blah blah. My bike is still out of commission so I've been walking everywhere. Vivian decided that we would both ride her bike home. After 50 minutes of falling and starting and stopping a good ten times, we made it home. I definitely have the battle wounds to prove that we did it. Bruises galore. It would've been faster if we had just walked but like she said, "Then we wouldn't have any stories to tell."

Here are some pictures from the past two weeks. Enjoy, bitches.