Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.

I finally conquered Libertine, although I'm not sure if Ben believes me. It would be nice if I could finish it again some day.

The drive home this afternoon/evening was annoying. There were times when traffic was horrible but sometimes it wasn't too bad. It took me 3.25 hours to get home from Ann Arbor. Arg.

I miss Ann Arbor terribly. I had to say goodbye to so many people today: Andria, Amy, Kaitlin, Sarah, Dwaine... it was sad. Truth be told, I teared up a couple times on the drive back (which certainly wasn't good considering the traffic). I miss the buildings and the stores and the trees and the people and the atmosphere. I love Ann Arbor. The only redeeming factor about being home is my friends. I got to see Ross tonight. The last time I saw him was at his graduation party and it was definitely great to see him again.

Becky, Kat, Katie, and I went canoeing and swimming last night. The whole ordeal was quite fun. First we had to tip over the canoe and check for snakes. There actually was one... Kat screamed and I ran away onto the dock. Then we looked for oars forever and finally settled on mini ones. Next we had to decide how we were going to get into the boat. After we got out in the middle of the lake, we had to figure out how to get out without tipping it. And once we were out, we had to figure out how to get back in again. It was definitely entertaining and the water was really warm. It was great to see them one last time before I left.

Well, that's that. I'm home again, for better or worse... we shall see.

Libertine the Fiend

Well then, today was a long day and this weekend was also loooong. It all began with a 4 hour car ride with my parents on Friday. Needless to say, that became annoying quickly. That was followed by an evening with them in a small hotel room. At least we got to babysit Anna. She is adorable! The hotel was really crappy but surprisingly had wireless internet.

The wedding was really nice and short. Adrienne and I received the gifts before the wedding and before the reception. I got to wear a pink flower... yeah, I felt special. :) The reception was also nice. It was at the Palais Royale in South Bend. Jon, Adrienne, Michael, and I left early to watch a movie. All in all, Saturday was a fun time.

After a brunch with the extended family, my parents and I drove home on Sunday. We got back just in time for the end of Ryan's graduation party, which I enjoyed. Then that evening Ben, BethAnne, Ryan, and I went to Chad and Angie's to play DDR and other stuff. So it was a pretty good day (except I didn't get to see Ross).

Today I woke up at 8 a.m. and left for Ann Arbor at 9:10ish. It took me 2 hours to get here and I would've gotten here sooner if it wouldn't have been for idiot drivers who went 65-70 in the left lane and refused to get over. Arg. Construction wasn't bad though.

A few minutes after I parked, I had to meet my German conversation partner and her brother. She brought some more movies in German for me to watch. I saw Kat there while I was talking to them and she talked about getting some HHBC people together before I leave forever. And then there were other things that I had to do today... and all before 2:30 p.m.

The rest of the day was uneventful. I watched Crazy, talked to some friends, and played some FFR.

Das ist interessant.

First of all, these pants are annoying. They're tight and loose and long and big and weird and annoying. Plus, the pockets are too shallow.

I'm outside right now and it's pouring. I love storms, but today's have been disappointing. We have had a tornado watch since around 5:30 and there's hardly been a storm. But I like this rain. It's fun watching it come down, seeing the bright flashes of lightning, and hearing the rumbles of thunder. I especially like the loud rumbles. Ah, storms. Ooh, there's a fairly loud one.

I got my International Student Identity Card yesterday. It's fun!

My cousin's wedding is this weekend in Indiana. I get to receive gifts at the reception. I don't know, it will be a nice change to my everyday life.

I wish I could go back in time, just to look and not to change things.

Someone is inside watching the food channel about Twinkies or something.

It's been a long boring day. Long... boring. I watched Pirates of the Caribbean in German this afternoon. Movies in German are quite entertaining. Now I'm sitting here outside on the porch... bored, writing aimlessly on this blog. I can't wait to go to sleep. Maybe I'll read a book, but I read one yesterday. It was House by Dekker and Peretti. I liked it well enough, but I still think that my favorite books by Dekker are the Circle Trilogy. I would definitely read those again. And I think Black might have been my favorite out of the three, but I really can't say for sure. I need to read Three and Obsessed and the one that Ryan has of mine that I haven't read yet.

Hmm, well then. I guess it's time to stop rambling. I wonder what chair Ross and Ben got at CMU band camp. I'm sure I'll find out eventually. See you all (nostly) on Sunday.

Home Alone

Saturday:
I am currently annoyed for two reasons. Reason 1: the internet quit working last night and now I can not check my email or play games online or talk to people unless I go to the Union or Angell Hall. Arg. Reason 2: two stupid pointless red cards (which mean the player gets kicked out of the game and the team has to play with one less player) from an idiot referee that shouldn’t have been officiating at the World Cup. At least the USA tied with Italy (1-1). However, the USA did not score any goals. How is that, you ask? Well, an idiot Italian (God bless his heart) accidentally knocked the ball into his own goal. Good one. So there is still a chance that the USA could go on to round 2, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

This afternoon, Tina and I went to Blimpie Burger for lunch. No one was there and the guy could tell that we had no idea what we were doing. He was really fun and talked us through it. I had onion rings (that were homemade, mmm) and a burger with lettuce, onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and fried egg. It was very good and I definitely want to go back there before I leave.

Continuing with the food theme, Tina and I went to Palio’s last night for dinner. It was Tina’s birthday and so she got her meal free and a free dessert. We split the dessert (chocolate Godiva cake). My entrée was exceptionally delicious. I can’t even describe how good it was. It had noodles, mushrooms, and roasted duck in a pepper sauce. Oh my, it was intensely wonderful. And, just as wonderful, I only had to pay $10 for it because Tina and I split the bill. Andria’s birthday was on Wednesday and we did the same thing: good food for cheap.

Yeah, if you haven’t figured it out by now, Tina was here Friday afternoon through Saturday evening. We went to Meijer and I bought some nicer shirts (one was light pink), some food, and some fans. The one fan is so little and cute, but it works so well.

Sunday:
I went to church this morning. Sadly, there weren’t many people there that I would’ve liked to see. But there was dessert afterwards because the organist is retiring. The chocolate covered strawberries were excellent.

The internet is finally working again. Ah, it feels nice, but it was also kind of nice being freed from the internet for a while.

Yesterday I watched The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in German (a.k.a. Der Herr der Ringe: die Gefaerhten). It was quite entertaining.

Plans for tonight include The Two Towers auf Deutsch, some vocab learning, and some Pringles.

Never Antagonize the Headless Man

I think you all should start writing in your blogs again. What will I do when I'm in Germany and have no idea what is going on with my favorite people on earth? I'll be despondant! If you're not going to blog, then you will have to write me many letters... at least once a month unless you are an especially good friend (then you have to write me once a week). :)

Tuesday night I predicted that Spain would win toady: Spain 4, Ukraine 0. Tuesday night I predicted that the match between Saudi Arabia and Tunisia would be a draw: Saudi Arabia 2, Tunisia 2. Tuesday night I predicted that Germany would beat Poland: Germany 1, Poland 0. I am so good. Germany scored in the 91st minute with about 2 minutes left in stoppage time. It was a good game.

Sports are so much more interesting when you care who wins.

From computers to whale feces. ...you don't want to know.

Today I talked to my German conversation partner and she brought some movies in German for me to watch. :D It's exciting. They are Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and a German one that has something to do with marijuana. So far I've only watched Monty Python. It was... interesting.

I'm thinking about getting a portable DVD player, but I don't know if it would be worth it.

That's about everything. Make sure you read my previous post and answer the questions.

Football... Fußball... Soccer...

Well, it's been a week. I'm getting slackerish in this blog thing... and slackerish in general. I haven't gone to the class that I'm not in for a couple weeks. I was weeks behind in my homework. I've been obsessively playing computer games for a while. Ben introduced me to Flash Flash Revolution.

The World Cup is exciting. I've watched a few games so far: Germany vs. Costa Rica, USA vs. Czech Republic, France vs. Switzerland, and Brazil vs. Croatia. Sadly, the USA lost miserably, but at least Germany won. Germany plays Poland tomorrow at 3pm ET. I'll certainly be watching that. And then maybe I'll go to the Arb. But it's Andria's birthday tomorrow, so that means free ice cream.

Yesterday after German, a few of us went to a sports bar to watch the USA vs. Czech Republic game. It was packed but still entertaining. There was a group of people dressed in red, white, and blue with two big American flags. When we finally got a table, it took about an hour to get our food.

I'm going to start learning a new language. Anyone want to do it with me? What language should I learn? I know which one I'm going to start learning, but I would definitely like your input and your reasons behind your suggestions. Anyone want to learn German? I would love to teach you! It would be fun! Or it would be fun for both/all of us to learn a new language together. Plus, it would be a useful skill. My goal is to be familiar with these languages: English, German, Russian, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, modern Arabic, Latin, and classical Greek. Other possibilities are Spanish, classical Hebrew, Finnish, and whatever is left.

In other news, Andria asked me to smell her shoe this evening. Hmm. It was the outside of her shoe. It turns out that she had stepped in crap and wanted to see if she had gotten the smell out. Great. Thanks for that.

I like buying stuff.

Death to Sickness

Ross, Ryan, and Joel graduated Friday. Thankfully, the ceremony wasn't too long. Ryan's speech was cute. Afterwards we went to Ben's house for a bonfire. Ben, Lyne, Alecia, BethAnne, Ryan, Joel, Isaiah, Emily, Angie, and I were there, and eventually Ross came when we were inside watching National Treasure. It was quite enjoyable and I wore Ben's socks, shoes, and sweatshirt.

I was home for the weekend. Really the only thing I like about being home is seeing my friends. I really do love my friends and miss them when I'm in Ann Arbor. They're great. My car also used to be a reason to come home, but my dad has ruined it by using it and putting all his junk in it. Sigh. And my parents certainly aren't incentive to come home. I like them and everything, but I really can't be around them much at all without conflict. Oh well.

Apparently, I am (or was) very sick. Yesterday when I was walking back from class, there were three times when I was confused about where I was. I had a fever, my nose was stuffed and runny, my lower back was sore, my head hurt, my neck was sore, and my throat hurt. And then I slept for 4.5 hours that afternoon. Today was better though... no naps yet, but I'm certainly considering it. And I just spent $8.30 on DayQuil. The sneezing has increased today also. ...Seven pills so far today with at least two more before I go to bed.

This afternoon I got my housing assignment for Freiburg! It's a single (they all are) on the 7th floor and I share a bathroom and a kitchenette with another student. I have my plane ticket, and now I just have to make sure the German advisor will let me go.

There's an obnoxious ringing noise...