My mother has come and gone, and only for five days. We stayed in the hotel in Berlin together and of course the time just whizzed right past us. A couple of things happened during that time, and they were: super-condensed bonding time that I had not even expected to actually happen, things on my big real-life list of shit to do while I'm in Germany getting big checkmarks right next to them, and the realization that it is so easy to fall back into old rhythms and habits no matter how much change one may have been through... She snored like a bandsaw and ignored all tips I tried to give her about some little cultural idiosyncracies, but she also did things like play with my hair and have good chats with me over dinner or drinks. It was so nice to see her. She let me have this gorgeous scarf of hers and I feel like a little kid for admitting this, but it still smells like her and it's comforting to tuck my face in it against the wind.
Actually I kind of feel like I've lost two weeks of time, out there somewhere, because the week before she came to visit I was sick and stayed home, and the almost-week that she was here almost felt removed or surreal. I am settling back in again, sloooowly, to whatever it is things are heading for. Mmmmmm. Maybe you can tell I am feeling sleepy. Yeah, it's a Friday night, but I have been completely content snuggling up with blankets and tea for this one. I feel so cozy. I've done some internet chattin with Lindsay and Jeff, I've made a list of some of the classes I might sign up for in the spring, watched some Grey's Anatomy, and there's more like that in store if I don't pass out first. Living somewhere in Europe isn't always as 100% EXCITING as it sounds like it would be 100% of the time, you know. Or YES, it could just be me. I'm saving all that energy for dancing with the Italian girls tomorrow.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
hey pig
Good things about this week so far: I bought books! Five of them, four of which are in German. That's the most exciting part. There is a double birthday party tonight, too.
Non-good things about this week so far: I am getting sick as of this morning and that sucks some major balls. I forgot how full of germs little kids are! Bummer. Also, last night on my way home from the gym, this short creep tried to hit on me. He asked if the seat next to me was free, which it obviously was, and then when I politely answered a question he asked me, he started touching on me pretty hardcore. I didn't punch him in the face like I wanted to. I have this problem with responding to assholes like that with some kind of stupid victorian woman demeanor, like, "oh please good sir would you leave me alone now?" I avoided eye contact and kept throwing his hands off and telling him to stop. I guess I feel like that should be enough, but damnit, seems like loud and in your face is what it takes and that is something I have to work on. At least the last time he touched on me he grabbed my hand and I squeezed it as hard as I possibly could, which I know hurt because he was smaller than me and looked like he was around 18. I totally could have kicked his ass. He left after that. But only because he had to get off the bus. Ugh.
Non-good things about this week so far: I am getting sick as of this morning and that sucks some major balls. I forgot how full of germs little kids are! Bummer. Also, last night on my way home from the gym, this short creep tried to hit on me. He asked if the seat next to me was free, which it obviously was, and then when I politely answered a question he asked me, he started touching on me pretty hardcore. I didn't punch him in the face like I wanted to. I have this problem with responding to assholes like that with some kind of stupid victorian woman demeanor, like, "oh please good sir would you leave me alone now?" I avoided eye contact and kept throwing his hands off and telling him to stop. I guess I feel like that should be enough, but damnit, seems like loud and in your face is what it takes and that is something I have to work on. At least the last time he touched on me he grabbed my hand and I squeezed it as hard as I possibly could, which I know hurt because he was smaller than me and looked like he was around 18. I totally could have kicked his ass. He left after that. But only because he had to get off the bus. Ugh.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
the idealist
I have spent today doing absolutely nothing nothing nothing nothing. It feels soooooooooo goooooooood. I YouTubed things like Ellen Degeneres, the Charleston and Blur, I made myself Smores from the rest of the Hersheys, marshmallows and graham crackers that my mom sent to me from the good ol' U S of A, I cut my sailor pants into sailor shorts and they now look four billion times as awesome, and I now have plans to write some in this here thing and then read until I pass out. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I didn't even go working out today, but DON'T WORRY-- I will make up for that tomorrow.
This week has been pretty good, must say. I am halfway through the first novel in German I have ever read for fun, I started my new job and it's great... Most of the time it's the little kids trying to get away with things and talking to me about things like leopards, and the older kids kicking my ass in both pool and table-Fußball, or as they call it, "Kicker." I think my favorite moment so far is when these kids came up to me while we were all outside and tried to pretend-rob me. When I told them that I didn't have any money, their solution was not to pretend shoot me with the sticks that they were holding, but to give me their invisible money and then make me give it back. hahahaha.
This weekend I went out with my friend Roos in Berlin for the first time in weeks. I saw her new apartment in Berlin and then we went out to a cocktail bar, followed by a gay bar. THEN yesterday I went to go see Milk with this kid Peter. Oooooh, what a good movie!
I have also been getting more and more excited about my mom coming to visit! I just can't believe it has been so long. I've got five days with her a little less than two weeks from now and I have already made up a schedule because that is how I do. It's all a lot of awesome crap though, like parks and castles and museums. I guess I will write about all of that when it happens, huh? I finally get to give her the presents I got her before Christmas, too, which this year will end up counting as "happy everything" presents. My favorite thing is a gorgeous gorgeous glass plate with a Mucha picture on it that I found in this novelty store in Luisenplatz, but I also got her a scarf and a Christmas mug, which I have been using for lack of dishes and a surplus of roommates who put mean notes on their cupboards when I use their stuff, wash it and put it back...
Have I written about them yet? Maybe I have, but it took six months for them to cozy up enough with me to have little conversations about classes we are taking and things like that. One of them, Ines, just did not seem too into me. She only wears black clothes, always wears her long long long hair up in a tight bun, and studies biology and chemistry. She also gets up before 7 every morning, and that includes Saturdays and Sundays, so for the first couple of months when I was going out to Berlin all the time to drink and dance and would end up coming back home at about 7:30 (after about 1 1/2 to 2 hours in transit, too), she would already be sitting at the table eating breakfast, shooting me a death glare. Steffi is pretty bubbly and wears lots of bright colors and sometimes initiates friendly conversation, but she is really busy because she teaches French and Italian this year along with writing her thesis. Kathrin, the last one, has a Trainspotting poster on her door and three different kinds of goth boots outside of it, is studying to become a librarian, and only ever used to say anything to me when I cleaned something the wrong way.
After I got back from Spain at the beginning of January I was tired of hiding away in my room from all of them. When Ines glared at me after I said good morning, all I said was "Ooooooooooookaaay!" in an admittedly dramatic and cheerful way before I closed my door. She was a lot nicer to me after that. She came up to me after she saw Twilight and told me all about it, and the other day she said it was really sad that I was eating off of a tupperware lid, and she gave me a plate to use. I actually eat at the kitchen table now instead of in my bedroom. When I baked allllll kinds of sweet things for Valentine's Day, I left some on the table. And actually, I just had my first real conversation with Kathrin a couple of weeks ago now. This is totally do-able now, and I know it had something to do with me, too.
Hmmmmmmm... Yeah, I guess the last thing left to talk about for now is how good I feel in my bones here now. Granted, I could really do with some summertime after all of this goddamned rain, but that will come eventually and then I can do things like go drink wine at the tree-blooming-festival in the village nearby and float down the Spree on a little boat all afternoon (while also still taking classes I guess, but eeeeh, you can't have it all).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc9wIzi96_E
Going back to where I came from definitely does not seem so glorious anymore, like it did over the holidays when I was all lonesome. When you are feeling down it's easy to hold on to some pretty ridiculous ideas in your head, that is for sure. I get the feeling it will be a MILLION times better than last year, though-- I have a different attitude and new hobbies and interests and a couple of kick-ass friends, and I am pretty damn determined to avoid that stuck feeling sucking me back in. I don't really think the place is a problem, either, but there it does seem to have been a challenge in the past to entertain one's self past the age of 16 with things other than drinking and sex. Things I have in mind? Crafting and biking and working out and reading and practicing sweet dance moves etc etc etc. I will stay fun and active, I will I will I will I will I will!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSuHrTfcikU
This week has been pretty good, must say. I am halfway through the first novel in German I have ever read for fun, I started my new job and it's great... Most of the time it's the little kids trying to get away with things and talking to me about things like leopards, and the older kids kicking my ass in both pool and table-Fußball, or as they call it, "Kicker." I think my favorite moment so far is when these kids came up to me while we were all outside and tried to pretend-rob me. When I told them that I didn't have any money, their solution was not to pretend shoot me with the sticks that they were holding, but to give me their invisible money and then make me give it back. hahahaha.
This weekend I went out with my friend Roos in Berlin for the first time in weeks. I saw her new apartment in Berlin and then we went out to a cocktail bar, followed by a gay bar. THEN yesterday I went to go see Milk with this kid Peter. Oooooh, what a good movie!
I have also been getting more and more excited about my mom coming to visit! I just can't believe it has been so long. I've got five days with her a little less than two weeks from now and I have already made up a schedule because that is how I do. It's all a lot of awesome crap though, like parks and castles and museums. I guess I will write about all of that when it happens, huh? I finally get to give her the presents I got her before Christmas, too, which this year will end up counting as "happy everything" presents. My favorite thing is a gorgeous gorgeous glass plate with a Mucha picture on it that I found in this novelty store in Luisenplatz, but I also got her a scarf and a Christmas mug, which I have been using for lack of dishes and a surplus of roommates who put mean notes on their cupboards when I use their stuff, wash it and put it back...
Have I written about them yet? Maybe I have, but it took six months for them to cozy up enough with me to have little conversations about classes we are taking and things like that. One of them, Ines, just did not seem too into me. She only wears black clothes, always wears her long long long hair up in a tight bun, and studies biology and chemistry. She also gets up before 7 every morning, and that includes Saturdays and Sundays, so for the first couple of months when I was going out to Berlin all the time to drink and dance and would end up coming back home at about 7:30 (after about 1 1/2 to 2 hours in transit, too), she would already be sitting at the table eating breakfast, shooting me a death glare. Steffi is pretty bubbly and wears lots of bright colors and sometimes initiates friendly conversation, but she is really busy because she teaches French and Italian this year along with writing her thesis. Kathrin, the last one, has a Trainspotting poster on her door and three different kinds of goth boots outside of it, is studying to become a librarian, and only ever used to say anything to me when I cleaned something the wrong way.
After I got back from Spain at the beginning of January I was tired of hiding away in my room from all of them. When Ines glared at me after I said good morning, all I said was "Ooooooooooookaaay!" in an admittedly dramatic and cheerful way before I closed my door. She was a lot nicer to me after that. She came up to me after she saw Twilight and told me all about it, and the other day she said it was really sad that I was eating off of a tupperware lid, and she gave me a plate to use. I actually eat at the kitchen table now instead of in my bedroom. When I baked allllll kinds of sweet things for Valentine's Day, I left some on the table. And actually, I just had my first real conversation with Kathrin a couple of weeks ago now. This is totally do-able now, and I know it had something to do with me, too.
Hmmmmmmm... Yeah, I guess the last thing left to talk about for now is how good I feel in my bones here now. Granted, I could really do with some summertime after all of this goddamned rain, but that will come eventually and then I can do things like go drink wine at the tree-blooming-festival in the village nearby and float down the Spree on a little boat all afternoon (while also still taking classes I guess, but eeeeh, you can't have it all).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc9wIzi96_E
Going back to where I came from definitely does not seem so glorious anymore, like it did over the holidays when I was all lonesome. When you are feeling down it's easy to hold on to some pretty ridiculous ideas in your head, that is for sure. I get the feeling it will be a MILLION times better than last year, though-- I have a different attitude and new hobbies and interests and a couple of kick-ass friends, and I am pretty damn determined to avoid that stuck feeling sucking me back in. I don't really think the place is a problem, either, but there it does seem to have been a challenge in the past to entertain one's self past the age of 16 with things other than drinking and sex. Things I have in mind? Crafting and biking and working out and reading and practicing sweet dance moves etc etc etc. I will stay fun and active, I will I will I will I will I will!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSuHrTfcikU
Sunday, March 1, 2009
books!
I want to read:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - X
Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
P.S. Ich liebe Dich by Cecelia Ahern -X
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Der Vorleser by Bernhard Schlink
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Movable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (series) by Douglas Adams
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
I Like You by Amy Sedaris
The Vice Guide to Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll
The Abortion by Richard Brautigan
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Kafka am Strand by Haruki Murakami
Blinde Weide, schlafende Frau by H. Murakami
Alles ist erleuchtet by Jonathan Safran Foer
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Canterbury Tales
Water Melon by Marian Keyes
Dubliners by James Joyce
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - X
Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
P.S. Ich liebe Dich by Cecelia Ahern -X
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Der Vorleser by Bernhard Schlink
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Movable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (series) by Douglas Adams
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
I Like You by Amy Sedaris
The Vice Guide to Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll
The Abortion by Richard Brautigan
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Kafka am Strand by Haruki Murakami
Blinde Weide, schlafende Frau by H. Murakami
Alles ist erleuchtet by Jonathan Safran Foer
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Canterbury Tales
Water Melon by Marian Keyes
Dubliners by James Joyce
themelessly yours
You know, I never did go to the Jüdisches Museum. It was closed by the time we got into Berlin, so we went to go see "Er steht einfach nicht auf Dich" instead. Lessons learned? Well, I guess, none. But it sure was a feel-good film. That reminds me though: I never did hear back from German Boy. The only thing that gets me is that he actually did answer me when I thought he wasn't going to in the first place, which served to get my hopes up, and for no real reason if he wasn't into the idea. But man, I have not had a serious, actual crush in a long time. It's just been fleeting and misguided attraction here and there, or an idea to play with. And boy, have some of them been misguided! Like the boy who turned out to have a baby and like girls who are in high school, or the other boy who turned out to be a lazy pot-smoker with no goals. I am going to take the initiative to fully absolve myself of all of that bad judgement due to my previously near-desperate state of loneliness and near complete lack of self confidence. Now that that's passed (THANK GOD) I'd like to say that my taste is improving, but the fact is, I really wouldn't know! My interests and daydreams are all entirely asexual at the moment. They keep me busy, but aaaah, someday I know I will have all of those crazy feels back. I really did come here thinking I was going to meet the love of my life though! I think I just watch too many dumb movies.
BACK TO THE NOW! I start my new job tomorrow! I am reeeeeeeeeeeally excited, but naturally I also have this nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. I am sure it will be alright, but large groups of kids who aren't used to you yet can be intimidating.
Other than that, my mother sent me an e-mail a few days ago and is planning to come and visit in about two weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!! I haven't seen her in over six months and she has never been to Europe, so I am PUMPED. I already have a rough schedule drawn up, because I am a loser who loves doing stuff like that. Plus, EL let me borrow her Berlin tourist guide books in exchange for the exhausting commitment of plant-sitting.
Hmmmmm. That's all I guess. I am gonna go read the Heart of Darkness now. It's online and I've got a big running list of reading-for-fun books I am trying to get through, a couple of which are books I never read in high school (because when the teachers tell you all of the basic information you need to know for a test, you don't really have to, do you?). Then came college, and that really slammed the leisurely reading desire out of me for a while. It really makes me feel horribly miserably guilty. I read like a machine until about my junior year in high school, and the reason one of my eyes is so messed up and weak is because I used to read every night under the covers with a flashlight when I was a kid. Babysitter's Club, Nancy Drew, the Face on the Milk Carton, vampire novels, whatever. So anyway, what I am saying is that I miss it, and I HAVE the free time lately... Any suggestions?!?!?!
BACK TO THE NOW! I start my new job tomorrow! I am reeeeeeeeeeeally excited, but naturally I also have this nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. I am sure it will be alright, but large groups of kids who aren't used to you yet can be intimidating.
Other than that, my mother sent me an e-mail a few days ago and is planning to come and visit in about two weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!! I haven't seen her in over six months and she has never been to Europe, so I am PUMPED. I already have a rough schedule drawn up, because I am a loser who loves doing stuff like that. Plus, EL let me borrow her Berlin tourist guide books in exchange for the exhausting commitment of plant-sitting.
Hmmmmm. That's all I guess. I am gonna go read the Heart of Darkness now. It's online and I've got a big running list of reading-for-fun books I am trying to get through, a couple of which are books I never read in high school (because when the teachers tell you all of the basic information you need to know for a test, you don't really have to, do you?). Then came college, and that really slammed the leisurely reading desire out of me for a while. It really makes me feel horribly miserably guilty. I read like a machine until about my junior year in high school, and the reason one of my eyes is so messed up and weak is because I used to read every night under the covers with a flashlight when I was a kid. Babysitter's Club, Nancy Drew, the Face on the Milk Carton, vampire novels, whatever. So anyway, what I am saying is that I miss it, and I HAVE the free time lately... Any suggestions?!?!?!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Nerdzilla
I just got home from the interview and I am pretty sure I can say that it went SWIMMINGLY!!!! God, that elementary school is just beautiful. It's on a side of Potsdam I had never been before, behind a tiny little neighborhood, up on this hill surrounded by woods. It also seemed pretty crazy at first because the kids have school at certain parts of the day, but for the other parts there's this big hallway that leads to a bunch of different rooms: reading, art, dress-up, games, table Fußball and sport stuff, etc etc etc. They have totally free roam of the place and just have to put their name magnets in the right place on the board whenever they switch so everyone knows where they are. They were all kind of freaking out, too, because tomorrow is Fasching and they are all going to celebrate by putting on a circus. Wooooo!
I guess my point is, I REALLY MISSED THAT STUFF! I have to wait for them to call me back after they figure out money stuff but holy shit, am I excited! It sounds like I will be there in the afternoons, a couple of hours with the younger ones in the daycare and a couple of hours with the older ones for afterschool care. Honestly the more I think about it, the more I am pretty sure my Plan B for after college will involve me going back to school (grumble) so I can do this for my living. German will be in there too, somewhere, somehow. I don't know if that means I will move here again, because that has been a really iffy thing for me for a while now, but I can't just leave it by the wayside because (1) I love it and (2) I would rather not have wasted five years of my life and all of that goddamn tuition. Aaah, I'll figure it out later. I wonder how many times I have said this.
Now I can finally start saving up to do some more traveling too! I have to see Prague and Paris AT LEAST. I have been lucky enough so far just to have spent a little time in Sweden and a lot of time in Spain, without a doubt, but it's all so close and I want to see more while I am still here. "I want to see the world!" is very cliché for a really good reason and I have this big chance right now... so GOOD GOD, why not??? I wonder exactly how many times I have made people listen to me say that, too. Sorry about that. ANYWAY, until that comes around though, a friend of mine said she would lend me her touristy Berlin book. Anyone have a fannypack I can borrow? Seriously?
Tonight I am going back out to Berlin to visit the Holocaust Museum. It's on my list of things I have to see. Anyway, there's a girl from Barcelona who studied with us earlier this year and came back to visit, and she's only here until tomorrow morning, so it's an excuse to hang out with her again, too. This topic is so huge and miserable that I can't help but want to avoid thinking about it. When you study German you definitely delve into this history a little deeper, but I've also got all of the chopped up pieces of my grandfather's story that connect me to it. I took a religion class last year too, on Christianity and Judaism after the Holocaust. It was extremely interesting but also incredibly and insanely and unbelievably emotionally draining. It's really important to be aware, but at the same time I guess what I am saying is that it is something so large and out there that no matter how many books you read and interviews and pictures you see and facts you take in it just can never be fully comprehended. It's just really hard to get too close to.
Other than that I guess I am still waiting to hear from German Boy to see if and when Coffee Date will happen this week. I am feeling pretty busy and accomplished lately, so I am really happy to report that it is an "any way the wind blows" "however the dice fall" "wie auch immer der Hase läuft" kind of thing. But I do still have my fingers crossed.
I guess my point is, I REALLY MISSED THAT STUFF! I have to wait for them to call me back after they figure out money stuff but holy shit, am I excited! It sounds like I will be there in the afternoons, a couple of hours with the younger ones in the daycare and a couple of hours with the older ones for afterschool care. Honestly the more I think about it, the more I am pretty sure my Plan B for after college will involve me going back to school (grumble) so I can do this for my living. German will be in there too, somewhere, somehow. I don't know if that means I will move here again, because that has been a really iffy thing for me for a while now, but I can't just leave it by the wayside because (1) I love it and (2) I would rather not have wasted five years of my life and all of that goddamn tuition. Aaah, I'll figure it out later. I wonder how many times I have said this.
Now I can finally start saving up to do some more traveling too! I have to see Prague and Paris AT LEAST. I have been lucky enough so far just to have spent a little time in Sweden and a lot of time in Spain, without a doubt, but it's all so close and I want to see more while I am still here. "I want to see the world!" is very cliché for a really good reason and I have this big chance right now... so GOOD GOD, why not??? I wonder exactly how many times I have made people listen to me say that, too. Sorry about that. ANYWAY, until that comes around though, a friend of mine said she would lend me her touristy Berlin book. Anyone have a fannypack I can borrow? Seriously?
Tonight I am going back out to Berlin to visit the Holocaust Museum. It's on my list of things I have to see. Anyway, there's a girl from Barcelona who studied with us earlier this year and came back to visit, and she's only here until tomorrow morning, so it's an excuse to hang out with her again, too. This topic is so huge and miserable that I can't help but want to avoid thinking about it. When you study German you definitely delve into this history a little deeper, but I've also got all of the chopped up pieces of my grandfather's story that connect me to it. I took a religion class last year too, on Christianity and Judaism after the Holocaust. It was extremely interesting but also incredibly and insanely and unbelievably emotionally draining. It's really important to be aware, but at the same time I guess what I am saying is that it is something so large and out there that no matter how many books you read and interviews and pictures you see and facts you take in it just can never be fully comprehended. It's just really hard to get too close to.
Other than that I guess I am still waiting to hear from German Boy to see if and when Coffee Date will happen this week. I am feeling pretty busy and accomplished lately, so I am really happy to report that it is an "any way the wind blows" "however the dice fall" "wie auch immer der Hase läuft" kind of thing. But I do still have my fingers crossed.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
the Platz to be
You can really tell that it's setting in already... Well maybe that's not true, but this weekend has been jam-packed with party. It's really the combination of that and all of the snow after I thought spring had already come that makes me not want to roll out of bed before 1pm. Thursday I ended up out until 5am celebrating at the student bar on campus. Last night was a lot calmer, but all of us got together for this girl's birthday and as a sort of good-bye for all of the kids headed for home. Some of them will be coming back, but there was a little bit of crying anyway, because not everybody will be. There was also a little bit of orange juggling, conversations about things like cockney rhyme slang and catholicism and, of course, there were YouTube videos. Tonight we're heading back out to Berlin for another birthday party and some dancing!
One of my favorite things about this place is how great everyone has been to people on their birthdays. Everyone brings candy or flowers or drinks and they sign enormous cards plastered with photos of this year. It was odd for me to learn that it's a pretty normal tradition around here for the birthday chicks and dudes to throw themselves a party and slave away preparing and cooking food for everyone. My friend from the Netherlands even said that if they invite everyone out to a dinner, they would be the ones who should pay. I guess it really beats having your last special birthday party be around the age of ten (mine involved Lisa Frank party favors and Pizza Hut), excluding the one where you go out and get trashed and pretend like you haven't already been drinking for years.
Actually, though, the winner in the category of different traditions so far is still what Pavla told me about Easter in the Czech Republic. All of the boys find branches and run around trying to spank the girls, and whenever one succeeds the girl has to give that boy something to eat or drink. hahaha, f that s!
I guess beyond that another little mind-blower for me was that the three kings come in January to give out the presents in Spain. So little kids write them all of their letters and sit in their laps at the malls. That didn't stop a lot of people from having tacky Santa-climbing-up-a-ladder-into-my-window decorations though. New Year's is still considered Christmas-time too, and everyone wears red undies that night for good luck in the New Year. I should know, too, because when I thought it was a little weird that David's mom gave me a new pair as a present (being that nobody except for my own mother has ever bought me new underwear) everyone flashed me their underpants at dinner. I will never forget those three weeks! Ooooh did I fall in love!
PS, if you are into this sort of talk and/or the Netherlands and/or David Sedaris:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbJpRLhaSqs
Anyway I think I am done with this thing again for now. The only other news I've got is that I finally called the elementary school and I have a meeting to go out there on Monday. I really really really hope it works out! Send me good vibes.
One of my favorite things about this place is how great everyone has been to people on their birthdays. Everyone brings candy or flowers or drinks and they sign enormous cards plastered with photos of this year. It was odd for me to learn that it's a pretty normal tradition around here for the birthday chicks and dudes to throw themselves a party and slave away preparing and cooking food for everyone. My friend from the Netherlands even said that if they invite everyone out to a dinner, they would be the ones who should pay. I guess it really beats having your last special birthday party be around the age of ten (mine involved Lisa Frank party favors and Pizza Hut), excluding the one where you go out and get trashed and pretend like you haven't already been drinking for years.
Actually, though, the winner in the category of different traditions so far is still what Pavla told me about Easter in the Czech Republic. All of the boys find branches and run around trying to spank the girls, and whenever one succeeds the girl has to give that boy something to eat or drink. hahaha, f that s!
I guess beyond that another little mind-blower for me was that the three kings come in January to give out the presents in Spain. So little kids write them all of their letters and sit in their laps at the malls. That didn't stop a lot of people from having tacky Santa-climbing-up-a-ladder-into-my-window decorations though. New Year's is still considered Christmas-time too, and everyone wears red undies that night for good luck in the New Year. I should know, too, because when I thought it was a little weird that David's mom gave me a new pair as a present (being that nobody except for my own mother has ever bought me new underwear) everyone flashed me their underpants at dinner. I will never forget those three weeks! Ooooh did I fall in love!
PS, if you are into this sort of talk and/or the Netherlands and/or David Sedaris:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbJpRLhaSqs
Anyway I think I am done with this thing again for now. The only other news I've got is that I finally called the elementary school and I have a meeting to go out there on Monday. I really really really hope it works out! Send me good vibes.
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