subtle like a t-rex.

I'm tired again. How unusual, I know; I blame my poor sleeping habits of the past few weeks, but I'm not exactly sure why those have re-surfaced. Probably something to do with being under some mild stress at this point in time. I wish I had more time in which to get things done. Actually no, I don't; I just wish that the Flinders Uni semester didn't overlap with the German course. Other than that, life is fine. Oh, and I have an epic headache, but I'm going to write this anyway, and then read some more of the book that I probably should have finished by now. Listening to Murder City Devils is probably not helping the situation.

So, what's new?

Akira has offered to buy my books for the semester and give them to Mum at the gym. I arranged to buy a reader from another girl who was offering it, discounted, because she wasn't taking the topic. Of course, Mum had to pick it up and pay, and Dad has since scanned the first 4 weeks readings from that one. He'll do the same for my other readings once they have the books. I think maybe they'll finally realise how much reading is involved in all these stupid courses! Either way, I'm feeling pretty damn appreciative of how awesome my parents are. Dad even paid for my subjects yesterday. What a champion.

I have two suitcases packed and now I just need to pay online for their shipping and collection. I think I'll arrange to have them collected the day before I leave, so that they get home after I do. That way I can just pick them up myself, and not cause the parents any more inconvenience, in case no one is home when they get delivered. I have to wait until I have sufficient cash in my account to pay for this, though, because I'm still waiting on the 150 Euro from the kid who's moving into this room (and buying my furniture). There was a bit of stress on waiting for a response from him, but I think that was possibly Fabian's fault. Oh well. All good now, provided that cash reaches my account sometime soon.

I went to the Nordsee with Steffi last weekend; it was a really relaxing weekend, with laziness and long walks to see a beach with no water. I don't really understand the German idea of a beach, somehow, just because I don't feel as though it compares to the Australian standard, even when I take the season into account. But it was nice to be there, to say that I've visited the quintessential German seaside town, and to get away from everything for a weekend. So, it was lovely. And Steffi paid for all the transport, because it was her thankyou to me for proof-reading her final paper. What a champion.

Sunday night, still unbearably sleepy (as was the theme for the entire weekend) I was picked up by Manfred & Helena, who took me to the Kesslers' house for dinner. The dinner was lovely (I've since re-created the roasted fennel dish, with great success) and the company was really nice, too. That was, of course, my thanks for proof-reading the textbook that Joerg and Manfred are publishing. The evening was conducted in German, and mine was embarrassingly bad. Still, I was understood, which is important. It's just embarrassing to know that you might speak perfectly in one language, and yet be a complete oaf in another.

I've been dragging myself through the last few weeks of the German class. The exam is on Friday; I need to start studying, but I'm not quite yet sure where I'll find the time. Not tonight, that much is for certain. I wish I had some sort of painkillers, but in that I never take them, of course, I don't have any. I wish my head would just relax already. My body clearly hasn't learned that with me, pain doesn't accomplish anything.

I visited Matt & Tash this weekend. It was awesome just to hang out, and I'm pretty sure I'll sneak in one last visit before I go, but I can't be completely certain. I got a Muenster postcard and a cookie cutter as mementos! Score. I don't know what I would have done without Matt & Tash here; they've definitely kept me sane a few times, and always been fantastic hosts. (Especially that time I hadn't had lunch and ate all the risotto.) So having a night there, where we just chilled out and youtubed videos and drank wine was completely awesome. I'm definitely going to miss them in the few months between my return to Australia and theirs. And yes, "youtubed" is the praeteritum form of "to youtube", and yes, of course it's a valid verb. Just like "to google", mai oui!

I'm restraining myself from using my phone so that I can keep my last 3 euros credit in case I need it before I go... I don't want to top up 10 Euros and then only use 30c of it. It finally gives me an excuse for checking my phone only once a day, heh. It's been nice not to be so phone-reliant here. I'll be taking the phone home, and getting some sort of adapter for it, because it's only a year old and still in perfect condition. Will have to get a sim card for it at some point, but hey, that can wait until I'm over my jet lag and uni stress... so, maybe June. ;)

Speaking of a year old, yesterday was the birthday of my unofficial German residency. I believe my official residency permit started on March 23rd, but I could be wrong. It's something like that. Anyway, I arrived on 5 March 2010, and my mind is blown when I consider that a year has passed while I've been here. It's phenomenal to think like that, simply because I feel like my life here has been removed from reality, as though everything at home was frozen while I was gone. I know that that's impossible, and I've accepted that there will be things that will be different when I get back, but I'm sure it'll still feel like a swift kick in the pants to realise them. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for the price of going home!

So, at least I can speak German. Sort of.

I went to the markets on Saturday morning. I'm sure that I'll duck in for a quick visit next week, but I can't imagine needing too much. I roasted some vegetables for dinner tonight and they tasted oddly bitter, which was the same problem as I had with the brussels sprouts last week. I'm wondering if perhaps the oven is the bittering-influence, because the carrots and parsnips come from entirely different sources. What is it with Germany and bitter vegetables? (Dear vegetables, it's okay; I still appreciate you. It's just that we all suffer from lack of sunlight, you and I alike, except that I'm still sweet about it. heh.)

I'm still tired, and therefore craving sugar (ugh, why do I do this to myself?) so I'm going to head to the kitchen and defrost some berries to deal with it. And then hopefully I'll get my read on. Moll Flanders isn't going to read itself, which is unfortunate, because I have rather limited interest in ladies desperate to get married for their financial security. Pride and Prejudice was about as far as that interest went, simply because Austen enjoyed making light of these terribly pressing situations. Because we all know that I'm terribly pressed to find a husband.

Ok, being serious. My life is about to get thrown upside down again, and I'm ok with that. I'm just a little too highly strung in the meantime, but what that means is that I'm getting things done, and that, with a little luck, I'll be able to hit the ground running when I get back to Adelaide. I'll keep my fingers crossed.