So, I'm in bed and about ready to go to sleep... how incredibly lame, I know. But I feel that I'm entitled to tiredness. I could explain why now, but let's start this in chronological.
Thursday was German class, then I had lunch with F and a few friends in the Mensa. After that, I went home, then to the city to buy a couple of things and withdraw some cash. In the packing of bags I forgot my camera, which I was kicking myself about later. I only worked that out an hour into the journey to Munster, so there was no way I could turn back. Sigh. Anyway, I checked into the hostel, then went to the show. I got told I was in my room by myself but someone else (man or woman? who knows!) was in there after I got back from the show. Anyway, to the show.
The first band (no idea what they were called) were pretty entertaining, almost hillbilly stuff. A few songs with banjo, the most basic snare/hi-hat setup you've seen, double bass, guitar. One song was definitely about beards (I recognised "baard" and "rasieren" as vital parts of the lyrics) but otherwise the German was much too fast and complex for me. After that I went to the merch stand to get the latest MbD album, which came out last month, and I got a tshirt too. I got talking to their tour guy and he said I should stick around later. Anyway, I went to the front when MbD started. They were seriously amazing - the sound was great, and the cellist had a dress and cowboy boots that I desperately wanted to steal. Except that they looked better on her, because she's much prettier than I am. No matter, I still wanted them.
Anyway, they played a mix of old and new - I heard Brother and Sometimes the line walks you. So really, I was satisfied. The crowd loved it, and kept cheering for more, and the crowd were calling out for songs - I yelled 'Shiola!' and Adam said something about people always requesting it. However, as a second encore, Adam came back onstage solo, and played Shiola. So I was pretty excited, and sang along at the top of my lungs. Beautiful moments in strange cities. :)
After the show I waited around a bit for people to filter out, then just hang out chatting to N for a while. Everyone (band) was packing up gear and then hanging around outside, talking, and I was happy to be a part of that. Plus N gave me a beer for free, what a champ. He said I should go to the Mbd/ El Bronx / Gogol Bordello show in Amsterdam on June 2, and I said I might. It was just really nice to speak to native-speakers; to talk as fast as I liked, to discuss the American army and make coat-hanger abortion comments, and to be perfectly understood. I had a great time, and N and I made plans to friend on Fb. At about 2am I headed back to the hostel, and got some sleep.
At 6:3o am I got up, showered and dressed, and caught the 7:10am train back to Pb. I saw Mg in the station - he was going to his placement school to say goodbye. He's a sweetheart, I wish he wasn't leaving. I sat with him and Ve and some others in the cafe the other day, speaking German, and it was great fun. It was even more fun because S opted to go back to the classroom and sit there rather than sit with some man she didn't know. I like it best when she's not there. She really does drive me nuts. I'll be glad when the class has more people, next term, so that I can talk to other people, ones who actually try to string sentences together.
Bitching aside, I wasn't too late for class - about half an hour. I stopped in the cafe on the way to class to get a coffee and two rolls for breakfast, and then spent the Pause catching up on the things I'd missed that morning. I was really exhausted - I hope O wasn't too annoyed with me. Anyway, I had a quiet afternoon, and was happy to go to bed at a ridiculously early hour. Especially because I had to rise at a ridiculously early hour on Saturday, for the Eurobiz trip to Bremen. 5:45am, to be precise.
We met at the station at 6:45am for the 7:15 train... ok, I confess, I deliberately showed up at 7am. So sue me, I don't want to wait for half an hour. Anyway, V and his visiting friend were there, and Sd came too. So we hung out as a group of 4 for most of the day. The train ride there was amusing, and the guided tour once we got there was also amusing - the tour guide was great. The only problem was that we didn't have time to take many photos, so a lot of mine are rushed or a little crooked. Oh well. After the tour we had free time for lunch - we ate at Nordsee, then got beers and sat by the river and chilled for half an hour. That was pretty nice. I talked to Sd a lot that day - in German too, so I was impressed with myself. He's not as weird as I originally thought.
After lunch we met up for a boat tour along the river - it was a waste of time, admittedly. I think they should have told us that a) there's nothing to see outside the immediate city, and b) all the commentary will be in rapid german. I was quite tired and spent a lot of time sitting on the floor, because my feet and knees were sore. Anyway, after the boat tour we had to head straight back to the train station, because we didn't have time to do anything else.
When we were back in Pb, we caught the bus to Sudring and went shopping in Real, for food for dinner. I got a ride home in the trolley, too! It was cramped and bumpy but really good fun. In V's apartment, we had to wait until his housemates were out of the kitchen before we could use it. So I got to watch the last 5 songs of Eurovision! That included the German entry, by Lena, which was a standard pop song ripping off Sophie Ellis Bextor. She sang kinda badly but is a cute kid, so fair enough. She won, anyway. So, Sd cooked dinner and we all ate it ravenously. I was so starving... I was in the kitchen while Sd was cooking so that I could snack on the salad as it was being made, etc. Anyway, it was simple but fine, loaded with salt and olive oil (always a winner in my book) and now I can say I've eaten food that was most definitely made by Turkish people. Because honestly, I have no idea if the people who have made the various Turkish late-night snacks I've eaten are actually Turkish. It's not like I can tell by looking. I know one place was Armenian, even. Anyway, whatever.
We didn't finish with dinner until about midnight, and at about half-past I left. V and his friend were going out, because she's only in Pb for a couple of days, so fair enough. I was exhausted, and glad to entertain the prospect of sleep. Sorry, Eurovision party, but Bremen got in the way. Anyway, after a slow walk home, and other things, I did finally get to go to bed, and even get some sleep. It wasn't a bad night, really, but it does remind me about certain stereotypes.
Anyway, I had a late morning. L had had some friends stay the night before so I had to wait until the bathroom was free before I could use it, which very nearly killed me. Anyway, I was really pleased when they finally went out. I had a shower and ate leftovers for lunch and had two coffees. Sat on the internet for most of the day, booked a train ticket from Prague back to Pb for the end of my holiday, and talked to Mi about what we'll do in Czech rep. Should be fun!
I had fruit and yoghurt and oats for lazy dinner. Now, it's finally getting darker outside, so I think I can give up on staying awake. K and E invited me to hang out, and so did A actually, but I'm just too tired for any of it. I did my German homework without understanding any of it, so I'll need to ask about that tomorrow. Oh, and I left a message for N on fb, saying that the show had sold out. He said that he could get me in if I wanted to come... I'm so thinking about it. It's a lot of hassle, but it'll be an awesome show and I could talk to more nice people. Sigh. I'll decide tomorrow.
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