Always Nothing

Hello. I have a rash on my neck. It's annoying. There always seems to be something weird and annoying wrong with me.

I still have to tell about my birthday, but it's late again (1am) and I just don't feel like it. Maybe next time.

Ross is going to be here on Saturday!!! It's so exciting! I started packing for Paris tonight after eating pizza. Mmm, pizza.

And yeah... there's not much to say...

So Much To Tell

Sarah is tired and wants to sleep.

I finally have 10 pages of my Hausarbeit. ...And I almost went insane this afternoon trying to get there. I hope it's good enough.

Yesterday I bought a bike. It's a used bike, so it wasn't too expensive. I love it. It's a black mountain bike with 18 speeds.

My birthday was eventful, but I'll have to tell you all about it later. I'm too tired to care right now.

I tried to clean my disaster of a room tonight after I finished my Hausarbeit. It's better than before, but it still needs some work. I need to figure out where to take all of my empty bottles and I need a lock for my bike. Right now it's sitting at the end of my bed, and it doesn't have a kickstand so it's leaning against the wall.

Twenty-One

Today has been interesting and not at all what I had planned. It's been great though. At 4:30pm EST (10:30pm here in Germany) I will officially turn 21.

21 on the 21st. It only happens once...

Fasnet Pictures

Narri! Narro!

I'm prety sure I had a dream last night where they were killing all of the Americans in Freiburg. It was basically like a Nazi dream. It was weird, and I had to run and hide in places. And one guy helped hide me.

Today was the Fasnet parade in Freiburg. It was insane. People were dressed up like the weirdest things. During the parade the people in the parade would randomly beat the spectators with blown-up pig bladders or yarn whips or stuff like that. They were dumping straw and confetti on people. One group would get a person and then duct tape his/her legs together. Another group got people and dumped them in a huge bucket of straw where they were then basically rolled in the straw and stuffed with straw. There were marching band type things and candy throwing and a lot of screaming (narri! narro!). The parade went for two hours. It was just insane. I hear the one in Basel (Switzerland) is even crazier. I want to go to it.

I have written three pages of my paper... 30% done.

Also, tonight I finished listening to all of my music in iTunes at least once in February. I think that's a record for me.

So I have a headache and I'm tired. Sleeeep. It's only 11:39. Hmm, I started this blog post exactly 12 hours before I finished it.

And that's all.

These papers are Dreck.

Hannah's birthday is today! Happy birthday, Hannah!

I had a dream about Grey's Anatomy last night. Meredith better not die. I would be so mad and boycott the show. And Derrick loves her! He was so upset! ARG!

Yesterday I stayed up late (3:30) working on papers. I just wanted them to be done and so I couldn't stop. It's sad. But I have to get them done by Friday, March 2... which is about 2 weeks. It's my own fault for waiting so long. But oh well.

In the afternoon yesterday I walked to a fleamarket. Well, I rode the Strassenbahn to a closer stop and then walked there. But I didn't know where I was going really, so I ended up walking all the way around the place trying to find the entrance. And then there was an Eintritt (entrance fee). But I bought some cool coins and postards. One coin is from the Third Reich. I bought 9 German coins and 9 coins from other countries.

It's still beautiful here. The weather is great... and relatively warm.

My tulip and my rose are still alive.

I finished my essay today. It was five pages. Now I just have a 10-pager to barf up. I'm so not looking forward to it. But I JUST WANT IT TO BE DONE! So I might stay up late again tonight trying to get a good chunk of it underway. Here I go...

Sing the songs that remind us of the better times.

Today began at 2:30pm when I finally decided to get out of bed. By the time I was cleaned up and had had my time on the internet, I needed to head over to Joslyn's to make brownies for Mary's birthday party, which was fun. At Mary's, we made food, ate food (a lot), danced interestingly, watched weird stuff on the internet, and then they all watched a movie and I went home. Mary's cute Mitbewohner (flatmate) was there. I'm a fan of his butt, and I don't usually appreciate butts that much.

I got a phone call this morning from a jehovah's witness. Hmm. They had called me before Christmas too. But they just asked if they could leave something in my mailbox again and I agreed, but I haven't taken it out yet and I have no intention of reading it.

Speaking of phone calls, after I came back from the bar on Wednesday at 2:30am, I went to sleep. Two hours later my phone rang. I stumbled over to it and answered it, but I was still half-asleep and the guy had to repeat himself a few times. Here's what I can remember from the conversation:
Me: What?
Guy: Can we come sleep in your room?
M: Where are you?
G: In the basement of your building.
M: How are you in the basement of my building?
G: We know people.
M: Oh, ok. Sure.
G: What floor do you live on?
M: Seven.
G: Ok.
I'm pretty sure it was the Irish guy from a few weeks ago. They never showed up though. Maybe I was supposed to buzz them into the building, but I was half asleep and confused. And I'm sure it was for the best that they didn't come up.

Salt in the Wound

My academic year in Freiburg is half completed as of the end of today. As the title says, it's like throwing salt in the wound or adding insult to injury. After all, we all know that today, single awareness day, isn't a very pleasant one. I did get a rose though.

I had a final test today and it wasn't overly wonderful. But afterwards, I got a paper back and she gave me an A+. She had written 'einfach toll', which is 'simply great'. I was pleased. It gave me a little bit of an accomplishment high.

Tschüss.

If you only knew...

I always get here to the blog page and then have no desire to tell my great stories.

This evening, I bought Ross's and my tickets to Paris. He also was lucky enough for my to buy him travel insurance. The whole thing cost less than I expected... €350. It took forever to arrange everything. I must've been talking to the lady for 30 minutes. It's too bad Ross wasn't here so that I could show off my awesome German skills.

As I was on my way to the train station to buy the tickets, I ended up talking to some random German lady. It was nice.

So... test tomorrow. More like final exam. We'll see how it goes. I'm not as worried as I should be, I think. Oh well. Whatever happens, happens.

It was so hard to sleep last night.

Ok, I actually have nothing interesting to say...

Follow the Blinking Lights

I lost the battle. It's over. It was about getting credits for French. I want to take French next semester, but UM recently decided that no credits would be given for a foreign language taken in Freiburg. And it would've been very helpful to get the credits. But I won't. I might still get them on this end, but I won't get anything back at UM. It's frustrating, but I'm ok with it now. I was really worked up about it. But now I'm ok.

Today I was feeling crappy, so I bought some DVDs. Buying stuff usually makes me feel better. I spent €31 on While You Were Sleeping, Sister Act 2, and High School Musical.

A couple days ago, I saw Mein Führer with Alex. I wanted to see it because it's pretty much writing a little piece of history. It's a German movie that was released in theaters in January and it's a comedy about Hitler. It wasn't as funny as I had hoped, but I was still happy to see it.

GRR

I am currently locked in an epic battle with certain forces at the University of Michigan. And it's occupying most of my brain so I can't think of mcuh to say.

Our plans for Ireland are coming along. We had our first froup discussion today at an Irish pub. It looks like I might be able to achieve most of my Ireland/UK goals.

I'm exhausted from my aforementioned epic battle.

Winding Down

I accidentally slept until 1pm on Sunday. Yeah... whoops. And it was another nice day, so I had to go outside. Then I had breakfast around 4pm and tried to clean some of the dirt and hair off of my floor. I also watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was enjoyable, but I really want to know how it ends and I want to reread the books.

Why ancient Greeks are always nude: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16948773/
No e-book for Harry Potter VII: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16983475/

I bought a new duvet cover a while ago. It has snowflakes on it. I like it. Snowflakes are my Christmas/winter thing. Everyone has to have one. Angels, snowmen, nativity scenes, christmas trees, gingerbread men, candles, wreaths... stuff like that.

One of my final tests is tomorrow. Yay... I want to get it over with, but it's in a class that I like. I just want the semester to be done, and it almost is. I think the last day of classes is Friday, February 16, but I don't have classes that day and I can't go to my class the day before. So classes end on the 14th for me. But I still have to write a 5-page paper and a 10-page paper before March. Maybe I should start those.

In the spirit of spring...

I woke up this morning feeling sick... coughy, sore throat, stuffy nose. Not good. And I wanted to keep sleeping but the sickness kept me from it. So I looked at my window and through the Rollladen (shade thing) it looked like a poopy day. Perfect, because that meant I could lay around inside without feeling guilty. But then I opened the shade and saw the bright, cloudless, blue sky and knew that I couldn't not go outside.

So after downloading the new episode of Grey's Anatomy and taking a shower, I hopped on the Landwasser Strassenbahn and went all the way to the end where there's a lake. At first, the lake seemed less than interesting. But then I walked up to the edge of the water and realized that it's really nice and natural. I walked around it and took a lot of pictures. At one point, I sat down on a bench for a while and listened to pretty concert band music on my iPod. It was so peaceful and the sun was so warm. When I began taking more pictures while sitting there, some old lady started talking to me. It took me a while to figure out what she was saying, but then I finally understood. She was pointing me towards a turtle on a log. She said that they always come out when the sun is shining.

When I got back to my room, I had the strong urge to listen to band music. I opened my window and I could smell the cool, fresh air... and then I couldn't resist. I absolutely had to listen to concert band music. And so I did. I don't know what it is about spring that makes me want to listen to band music.
"Ah, yes... spring: the time of fresh air and flowers, blue skies and band music. I don't know why, but band music just seems to fit with spring. Maybe it's because we would always began fun band music for the concert in the spring, or because we would march down the road playing Salute to Freedom endlessly before Memorial Day, or because of that time last spring when Ross and I tried to tan on my trampoline while listening to band music... or maybe it's because when I listen to band music in the spring, it feels as if the music is trying to capture the singing of the universe in exultation of the new beginning of springtime." -Sarah Swartz, 29 March 2005.

Also, I have an urge to read/watch Harry Potter. ...And I can see a guy juggling from my window.

My picture was in the Polish newspaper because Michal's local newspaper prints pictures of people reading that newspaper. And so he took pictures of me and some Asian guys with the newspaper and it was printed. I have a copy of the newspaper.

I tend to feel displaced a lot. There have been many times when I've been layingin my bed here and thought for a second that I was in my bed at home. And just now when I looked at my pop bottle, I thought I was at my desk in South Quad from last year.

"Du fragst mich, was soll ich tun? Und ich sage: Lebe wild und gefährlich, Artur."
"You ask me, what should I do? And I say: Live wild and dangerous, Arthur."

Wild und Gefährlich

I can't seem to stop spending money. Today, I ended up buying a new duvet cover and pillowcase. It was a reduced price, but it wasn't overly cheap. I bought some more postcards and some food (salad dressing, Schlagsahne, and something else).

Before that, I had met Michal because he had the Polish newspaper that my picture was in. Heh, heh, heh. It is true. We then went out for coffee and talked for almost two hours.

My room was an awful mess, but I cleaned it up today. ...Well, mostly. Now I just need to sweep my floor, which is an interesting shade of disgusting.

I also need to do my laundry. It couldn't have been too terribly long since the last time, but I don't know...

There was something that I wanted to quote in this post, but I'm too lazy to get off the bed.

I'm still a bit sick... oh well.

I remembered my PIN number!

Yes, Jenny, I went to the doctor. I hate going to the doctor. And he said it was a virus, which is what I suspected.

My one class today was fine and even a little bit entertaining.

I've been reading about Harry Potter on the internet. Apparently the release date for the last book is 21 July 2007. She should've made it later... like November. That way there would be sometime between movie and book... spread the excitement and anticipation out a little.

I still love my shoes.

I had forgotten my Geheimzahl for my German ATM card for about a month and I couldn't find where it was written down. I tried 5 different numbers using the numbers that I knew were in it... I just didn't know where they were in it. But then I finally found the piece of paper yesterday. YAY! It was a spectacular moment.

Also, my 21st birthday is in 20 days. :)