So. I'm back in Paderborn, keeping warm under the covers, and not too long ago I got to put into practice the keeping-warm tradition that I started at Leader Street. That is, when you've gotten cold from sitting down for too long, get off of your backside, and go for a jog. Today I just felt energetic (because I'd been on trains and hadn't really done any walking or anything) so I did two laps of my usual circuit. It has nothing on Matt lapping the Aasee twice, but I did manage to keep my legs moving at a (very, very) slow jog for 40 minutes, which is twice what I normally can manage. Then I walked it out for about twenty minutes. I'd like to thank Arcade Fire for providing the background music. I'll get to the ipod in a moment... I'll explain yesterday first, so that my explanations will actually make sense.
So, yesterday was Saturday. Steffi had told me that the only Primark in Germany was situated in Bremen, and the memory of shoes for 2 pounds was enough to get me on a tram out to their small idea of a shopping mall. German capitalism, with your miniscule malls and fixed-price books, you're about forty years behind most other Western nations. The mall had two Starbucks', ugh. I had to go to Alex (another chain) for a cup of tea. What is it with waitresses and cashiers always being completely surprised when all I want it a drink? Sorry that I don't want to stuff my face with cake like everyone else, jeeeeez. Haha. Ok, so I went to Primark, getting there about 15 minutes after the 10am opening time. And boy, was it chaos.
Shoppers were frantically running around, grabbing everything that they could get their hands on, pulling clothes off of racks and trying on jackets in front of the in-store mirrors to avoid the epic changeroom queue. It was like a flock of hungry seagulls descending on a single hot chip. You'd think that they were starving parents rushing to find food for their children, the way they adopted a grab-and-run attitude to shopping. All of the clothes and accessories were stuffed gracelessly into the giant net bags that were provided in lieu of shopping baskets. I had my ipod on, drowning out everything that was going on around me, as I slowly perused the offerings (sans giant net basket). After a while, I had a couple of things in my hands, but I wasn't feeling too good about it. I knew that they were poor-quality clothes, probably made by children in some Asian sweatshop. And yet, I still queued up for a changeroom (it took the first 8 tracks of No Fun At All's album No Straight Angles before I got to the front of the line) and I still bought a couple of things.
So, that puts me back on track for being a shit person. Probably negates the awesomely good-looking, hand-made, good-quality vegan-leather jacket that I mail-ordered from Vegetarian Shoes (a UK company) that arrived while I was away. Afterwards I felt totally drained, and over shopping. I ate some greasy noodles in the food court, mixed with an awful lot of siracha to add some flavour, and then had my cup of tea away from the crowds. The way everyone was treating those clothes was so devoid of respect. If something only costs ten euro, it gets thrown in a net bag the way that I throw an apple core in the bin. They didn't care about the clothes now, and I felt like they wouldn't care about the clothes at home, either. After all, they were dirt cheap, and easily replaceable. A good deal of the shoppers were teenage girls. What is this teaching us?!
So, I ended up buying a red knitted beret and a beanie, a casual dress (to wear over tshirts - it's quite thick and warm) and a jogging jacket, which is mesh inside and some sort of plasticky (polyester?) outside. That's what I used today to go jogging... so much easier that putting my keys and my ipod inside my sports bra. You didn't want to read that, sorry. But it was nice not having a sweaty ipod and keyring when I got home!
Anyway, I caught a tram back to the city (didn't pay for any more trams after the trip out there) and wandered through a few shops and things. Sat in a little arcade and had another cup of Earl Grey - I was really thirsty, but I figured that if I was paying for a drink, then I may as well be drinking something enjoyable. Can't say much for the quality of black tea in the country, really. Hamburg and its soymilk coffees was a revelation, and now I'm back to feeling cheated. So, I went into Galeria Kaufhof, and lo and behold! Oasis had a section there. So I tried on many items on the sale rack, discovering to my obscene joy that yes, I am still a size 38 (and fuck you, H&M and other shitty stores for trying to tell me otherwise) and that their clothes actually looked nice on me. Y'know, because they're designed for young women, not for teenage girls with the figures of teenage boys. I had to stop myself from being greedy, and bought a nice top (black knit with cream lace across the shoulders) and black slim-fit business pants. I did buy a 40 in those, because they were designed to be pretty tight, and I don't like having pants with higher waists digging into my tummy when I'm sitting. I know that I won't be working anytime soon, but I really love business-wear. I mix it with my casual stuff, for the record, lest you think I'm getting all corporate on you.
So, I went back to the hostel, and put down my bags. I then walked out to the Rewe that I had visited the day before, to stock up on a few items for old times' sake. They were completely out of the TVP crumbs (think bolognese, but with TVP instead of mince) - which means that lots of people were buying it. I bought two bags of the TVP chunks and some spelt semolina. I love semolina and I love spelt, so I hope it's good. Oh, and some more of those vegeburgers, because they weren't too bad. Good convenience food, and because they don't need refrigeration, they last forever. One for the pantry, for emergencies. So, back to the hostel, where I chilled out and used the internet. I cooked vegeburgers and salad (ok, two yellow tomatoes and a cucumber, with heaps of salt and pepper) for dinner, and had lots of pumpkinseed bread. Not bad, not bad at all.
Today I got up at 6am, checked my internets (it's especially fast at that time of morning, particularly when you're in a hostel!) and had a shower. Had the "small, free breakfast" offered by the hostel - toast and jam - and an apple. Found that the tea had been topped up, and there were now 3 herbal varieties and one normal black tea, so not as dire as previously thought. I lazed about, repacked my bags (now using my green shopping bag as well) and caught my train at 10:44am. I had three minutes in Muenster to transfer trains (my IC ran late) and then finally back to Paderborn. It wasn't a bad journey, in all. Back here I unpacked, ate lots of toast and vegemite for lunch (no food in fridge) and lazed about on the internet. Read the rest of my roller-derby book, and it was awesome. Went for a run, whilst thawing out pasta sauce that I had in the freezer. Ate that on top of steamed delicata squash, which I like more than any other squash I've had here. It was incredibly sweet, and I think I'll be eating a lot more of it. I drank a litre of water post-run. Not bad. I also had a shower, because I needed it.
So, adventures over. Back to uni tomorrow, ughhhh. I'd better get ready for bed, because I'm already tired.
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