Ein kompliziertes Leben

You don't even know the half of it.

The Harry Potter book was not bad, it was just not good enough. At the end, there was not anything to think about. It was just over.

I'm thinking about going to Bayern (Bavaria) and Austria this week, but recent developments has put that into jeopardy.

For my last paper, I'm using movies as a research-medium, and so that means I get to watch movies endlessly without guilt.

My parents' 35th anniversary was on Sunday. Yes, they are old. And, don't worry, I didn't forget them. I sent them a card with some pictures and also a present.

Moving is a pain.

I bought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Saturday afternoon and less than 36 hours later, I was done. Although not bad, it left something to be desired. The main plot elements were predictable. Voldemort died, Harry lived, Harry was a sort of horcrux, the main-main characters lived, and only a couple of the other main characters died. No surprises. Snape ended up being good, and that's what I expected and what most predicted. I was mad that Hedwig died, but I knew about that before I started reading. I thought though that someone was supposed to have magical powers who didn't have them before. I was also hoping for some resolution with Neville and his parents. And I also thought that there was supposed to be an explanation about why Harry's eyes resembling his mother's was significant. Meh. Neville was good though, and I'm glad it ended at Hogwarts. I wasn't a fan of the last chapter. It didn't answer enough questions about everyone and it sounded and flowed like some crap that I would have written.

But anyway, I have awful allergies at the moment. It's still sunny and beautiful here.

I'm looking into buying a new computer because this one is slowly dying.

Oh, the joys...

I told myself I wouldn't do it. I told myself that I just needed to hold out until someone could assist me. But I couldn't. I went into the store yesterday just to see it laying there, just to look... to look at that legendary object. There were about 15 of them. Just sitting there. No one was paying attention to them. They were just sitting there. I couldn't resist, and I reached out my hand and took one. Nidhal was with me and quickly saw the folly of bringing me there. And as I sat there and looked at what was in my hand, I couldn't resist. ...And Nidhal bought it for me. I had acquired the final piece of the Harry Potter epic tale.

But I was seriously going to wait until it came out in paperback, because that what the rest of mine are, and until then just read someone else's. But I couldn't resist... it was only €19. Because this is Germany and the people speak German, the books were just sitting on the shelves without any special anything (they don't come out in German for a couple months). Some stores had midnight sellings, but there wasn't really anything special going on. But my version is the British version, and so I'll end up buying the American version when it comes out in paperback.

I like Disney movies.

I'm tired. I have two more papers to write. The one I already turned in wasn't great. I don't know what I'm going to write about for the one paper. I just want these to be over... finished... vorbei... fertig. Blah.

At least the weather has gotten nicer. For a week it has been really warm (HOT) and mostly sunny.

I'm preparing another box to send home. It's a big one, and I think I'll have to send at least one more big one after it.

My computer is dying slowly and painfully. It is quite upsetting and disturbing to watch. I guess I'll just have to buy a new one.

Well, well, well. That is all for now, I suppose.

Very Important Nachrichten

Yesterday I saw a teenage boy in the Strassenbahn who was about 65% the obnoxious underwear model from 10 Things I Hate About You and 35% the main male character in High School Musical.

I'm tired. Quite tired. And still dizzy.

And now I hope everyone is sitting down because I got a new haircut yesterday and so now my hair looks different!

Greetings from Freiburg im Breisgau in southwest Baden-Württemberg!

The Germans are jaywalking! It's like a rip in the galaxy!

Yes, so... moving on...

I want some Heroes.

The area around my lips itches.

I made dinner yesterday for Nidhal and me and it was good... noodles and sauce with salad and garlic bread. Nidhal gave me an A.

Speaking of Nidhal (as I tend to always do), he has been cute lately (as well as most of the time). I asked him to watch the first Harry Potter movie with me and he did and liked it. But then he wouldn't stop bugging me about who Herione was in love with, abd he kept bugging me throughout the week as we watched the other three. And then during the third movie, when Hermione punched Malfoy, he said something like "ooo, yeah, good job". He's just a cutie.

So, I eaither have to do my laundry today or buy new underwear, and you know I'm really having trouble deciding which one to go with... laziness vs. cheapness, two of the strongest forces in the world.

Flatmate Frustrations

How can someone clog up a bathroom sink so fast? Seriously. The Hausmeister (like a super) came and unclogged everything in May or early June, and now the bathroom sink is already clogged again. The bathroom sink was never clogged before this Mitbewohner/flatmate came. Also, about a week ago I cleaned the bathroom sink. I mean, it was shiny white clean. Seriously a day or two later, there was already a layer of dirt and grime in it. How can one male (a student even... it's not like he's a lumberjack or something) seriously accomplish that. It is so disgusting. When I cleaned it, the dirt and grime was unbelievable because no one had cleaned it since he moved in (April sometime), and so I was ok with that. But seriously, in the span of 2 days to make it noticably dirty again. Seriously. Clean up after yourself for once. And he also always clogs up the kitchen sink because he leaves gross food bits in the drain (on my side of the sink even) and doesn't get rid of them for days, if ever. It is disgusting the way he leaves the bethroom and kitchen. I'm not saying I'm miss squeaky clean, but at least I clean up after myself, especially when it's a shared area. Ok, rant is now over.

Bah Dizzy

Today was Nidhal's birthday. We hung out together. He's 26 now... such an old old man. I bought him a little teddy bear for his birthday.

I'm sick. Sick sick sick. I don't know what it is. I'm just really dizzy frequently and I think I have an off and on fever. It's annoying.

It's amazing that the parents can annoy me from over 4000 miles away.

Independance Day (aka Unabhängigkeitstag but probably spelled differently) was ok. I didn't do much besides go to class and walk around the city.

People annoy me sometimes...

...or frequently.

Ridha, Nidhal's friend, had a microwave accident today. I was sitting on the chair in the kitchen playing solitaire waiting for Nidhal to come back when I heard a pop from the microwave. I looked up and saw an intense orange glow coming from inside. Not knowing quite what to do, I said "uhmm...". Ridha turned around and freaked out for a split second as he ran to the microwave and opened it up in the middle of a burst of flame. Everything was more or less fine after that.

Nidhal's birthday is on Saturday and I'm having fun looking for gifts for him.

Not much is going on in my life. Two or three of my classes end next week. The two linguistics ones end for sure and it's possible that my American Indian class will also end then. If all three are over next week, I'll only have one class left.

It's been raining a lot lately. I want sun.

Ewigkeit

Welcome back. Today, I went with old German man to a special mass at the Münster. It was interesting.

I've accomplished 2 of my 3 official goals for my year in Germany. They were:
- see Loch Lomond in Scotland
- go to a German soccer game
- visit the castle Neuschwanstein in Bayern.
I've done the first two, and the last one shouldn't be too hard to tackle. Other non-official goals (see the Alps in person, visit my ancestral home in France, and see the Sound of Music area in Austria) still need to be accomplished. And, really, I could accomplish two of the three non-official goals at once. Can you guess which two?

Well, I really should write my paper for tomorrow. Bah. I don't want to.